It is a week before Rangers will have a full squad to choose from for the first time this season, but Jon Daly believes that the team has benefitted from the summer recruitment policy.
Eight players agreed to sign as free agents on September 1, when the registration embargo ends, but only Daly and Law have played so far.
Cammy Bell and Nicky Clark could feature as trialists in the meantime - since they were last registered with Scottish clubs - but Richard Foster, Steven Smith, Arnold Peralta and Bilel Mohsni must wait due to the eligibility rules for trialists. Nonetheless, Daly is adamant the impending competition for places has already improved the performances of the other players in the Rangers set up.
"We've got a decent squad and there's of competition for places," Daly said. "That keeps everybody on their toes and that's what you need at a club like Rangers. If people aren't at it, somebody else comes in and does the job. That's why it's up to the boys who have the shirts at the moment to make sure they keep them when the lads are eligible to come in and play."
Daly scored his first two goals for Rangers in Friday night's 6-0 win over Airdrieonians. It took him four games to find the net, but frustration was never likely to overcome the former Dundee United striker. He is already popular with the support, who value his link-up play, commitment and influence on the team's general play. Daly and Law, who has brought dynamism and creativity to midfield, both have to wait until next month before they can play again, having featured as trialists for the maximum number of times under the Scottish Professional Football League rules.
"It's frustrating but that's me being selfish," said Daly. "You have to look at the lads who have had to sit on the sidelines; it must be frustrating for them. I've been lucky enough to get a couple of games in and in raring to go for when the embargo's lifted."
Rangers have made a sure-footed start to the league campaign, with three wins, 13 goals scored and only one conceded. That is a contrast to last year, when the Ibrox side initially struggled to come to terms with the demands of competing in the bottom tier. Airdrie were swept aside, and the same ought to have happened against Stranraer the previous week, when Ally McCoist upbraided his players for not making their dominance count for more than three goals. His criticism registered with the players, and that ruthlessness may become a feature of the side's play this season.
"You just make sure that you don't take your foot off the gas," Daly said. "We went a couple of goals up against Stranraer then settled for 3-0 and the manager wasn't happy with that. The lads weren't happy with that, we want to score plenty of goals and that's our target: to lay down a marker that we mean business."
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