RANGERS' summer signings will help the Ibrox kids perform even better next season.

That was the prediction of Ibrox first-team hopeful Kyle McAusland as he prepared to play Gutersloh in Germany this evening.

McAusland, who has turned out in all three pre-season friendlies so far, has been impressed with the quality of the new recruits.

Rangers boss Ally McCoist has brought in seven free agents during the close season as he prepares for the 2013/14 campaign. Cammy Bell, Nicky Clark, Jon Daly, Ricky Foster, Nicky Law, Arnold Peralta and Steven Smith have all joined the Third Division champions.

And McCoist's recruitment drive is not over – he is keen to make trialist Belil Mohsni's stay a permanent one and strengthen at centre-half.

The arrival of so many senior players, the majority of whom have extensive top-flight experience, will restrict the number of first-team starts handed out to the young guns.

But defender McAusland is convinced the likes of Lewis Macleod, who has scored three goals in three games during pre-season, will continue to feature heavily.

And he is confident the increased competition for places in the months ahead will ensure the Murray Park graduates raise their games even higher.

He said: "It has been really good to get to meet the new boys and train with them in pre-season in the Highlands and here in Germany.

"It has been brilliant for all of us to meet up with and get to know the boys off the park as well as on the park. They are good lads.

"The likes of Cammy Bell, Jon Daly, Ricky Foster, Nicky Law and Steven Smith have all played in the SPL for a number of years.

"If anything, they will help improve the young players. It is common sense. If you train and play with better players then you yourself will become a better player.

"The fact we have players with SPL experience can only help the young boys develop and can only help the team overall."

McAusland added: "They say that a good team is a blend of youth and experience and that is certainly what we have at the club now. As well as the new boys, we have the likes of Ian Black, Lee McCulloch and Lee Wallace. You can only learn from training and playing with these guys.

"We have won all three of our games so far in pre-season and that augurs well for the start of the new campaign. Hopefully, we can keep our winning run going.

"We have worked hard in all our training sessions and are feeling fit, sharp and confident. We are really looking forward to it."