MARK WARBURTON, the Rangers manager, has a number of boxes to tick on his ever-growing to-do list. There’s the need, for starters, to win the Ladbrokes Championship, sign players with a greater physical edge in January and shape his side into one capable of competing in the top division next season.

A very personal project has been occupying his thoughts in recent times, though. A desire to give one man the platform to gain individual recognition for the service he has given to his team.

Warburton has already handed Lee Wallace the honour of wearing the captain’s armband at Rangers. He now wants to make sure the 28-year-old gains his rightful reward of being recalled to the Scotland national squad in time for the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.

Wallace has won just eight caps in six years since making his debut in dark blue in a friendly match against Japan in Yokohama. Since dropping down to the fourth tier of the domestic game with Rangers, he has only been involved very occasionally with his last call-up received for a double-header against Belgium and Macedonia in September 2013.

Warburton believes Wallace possesses the qualities required to be an international player in terms of on-field athleticism and drive and the maturity he has developed as one of the more influential figures in the dressing-room at the Glasgow club.

He regards it as his mission to make sure those attributes are, once again, recognised and, more importantly, utilised by Gordon Strachan.

“David Weir’s job and my job should be to get Lee back in the Scotland team,” stated Warburton. “If we can give him the right platform, the right focus and training here, he’s got all the ability in the world.

“He’s proven to be an outstanding skipper. The way he talks to the players is first-class and the way he leads them is first-class.

“His level of consistency in performances has been outstanding, so he has shown he’s more than capable of playing at that level and I hope very much that he regains international status fairly soon.

“I’ve got no doubt he’d definitely bring something to the table (for Scotland). His job is to maintain that consistency and our job is to give him the platform to regain his international standing.”

Warburton took his time after taking over at Rangers before naming Wallace as his captain and has revealed it was the way he handled himself around the other players in addition to the fact he had been at rock-bottom with the club after its financial implosion in 2012 that made his mind up.

“You are always worried about making someone captain and how it impacts on their performance on the pitch,” he said. “He’s done that effortlessly. I watched the way he conducts himself and speaks to the players.

“He is very sensible, very smart in what he says. He doesn’t waste words. The energy and desire and the way he trains every day means he leads by example.

“It is a big decision making a player captain of Rangers given everything that comes with it – the responsibilities in the dressing room, responsibilities on the pitch, training, the media, fans.

“It was important I got it right and I think that was the right call. The over-riding factor was maybe that he’d been through everything in the last few years.

“He has experience. He talks about where we’ve been and where we need to get to.

“He’s seen both ends of the spectrum. Lee, obviously, could have moved, but he stayed with the club and showed tremendous loyalty. I hope he’ll reap the rewards of that.”

Warburton is working on adding extra experience to his squad in January and has admitted he wants, for want of a better term, a little more muscle in the team.

“We're never going to lump the ball in the box, but we're probably light right now in maturity and physicality,” he said. “Also, we’d like a bit of cleverness around the final third of the pitch.”