MARK WARBURTON insists he has no long-term fears over Josh Windass’ fitness despite the midfielder sustaining another muscle injury this season.

Windass has suffered a series of hamstring strains during the opening months of his Ibrox career following his summer switch from Accrington Stanley but could return to action against Hearts on Saturday.

Fellow midfielder Jordan Rossiter is also nearing full fitness after several weeks on the sidelines and boss Warburton will continue to be patient with the pair.

He said: “Josh we hope will come back this week; again you have to look after young players and look at the bigger picture.

“We talk about the demands we place on young players coming to Rangers and that is everything, the expectation of the crowd, playing in front of 50,000 and dealing with a more intense training regime.

“Their body is adapting to the demands of that and Josh is a young player with a very bright future ahead of him but we have to look after him.

“I hope we are getting closer with Jordan too and fingers crossed I hope he will be available for selection soon.

“We have to look at the regime with Josh, what he is used to and that is no disrespect to any previous club but it is what they have been used to and what they are being asked to do now in terms of intensity of work.

“Hopefully these players will adapt, Josh and Jordan are young guys and it is still very, very early in their Rangers careers and hopefully they both have very long and fruitful careers ahead of them.”

While Warburton could welcome back two midfield stars against the Jambos, he will be without experienced stopper Clint Hill following his red card against Aberdeen.

The Englishman has become an integral part of the Ibrox defence in recent weeks and Warburton is pleased with Hill’s contribution to the Light Blue cause.

“I thought Clint and Rob (Kiernan) were both excellent on Saturday at centre-half,” he told RangersTV.

“Great that we have got the options of Danny (Wilson) and Philippe (Senderos) but there is no doubt that Clint is showing his value, his worth, his experience, his aerial strength.

“Any player is a loss. We are tight on numbers with Josh, Jordan and Niko. But no doubts about the quality of Danny and Philippe.

“Clint is a senior pro. Rob and Danny have played together countless times, Philippe has got an excellent CV as well.

“The fact is that Clint that, at 38, he has got a tremendous CV. He has seen no much in football and he can pass on that experience.

“Good, mature senior pros can add that quality and they can help younger players play and provide that confidence.”