MARK WARBURTON has hit back at Alan Stubbs’ jibes and told him to mind his own business after he had a pop at the Rangers manager over his transfer strategy.

The Easter Road boss has claimed Warburton has a ‘very easy’ job rebuilding his squad at Ibrox thanks to his budget that has allowed him to significantly bolster his ranks this summer.

Warburton is eyeing a move for Arsenal starlet Gedion Zelalem but was tight lipped over the state of the potential loan deal after seeing his side beat Ayr United 2-0 in the Petrofac Training Cup last night.

The Somerset Park success saw Rangers warm up for their Championship showdown with Hibs this weekend with their fifth straight success.

Rangers were 6-2 winners over Hibs on the opening day of the campaign and have been in fine form so far this season as Warburton’s summer signings have hit the ground running and impressed in Light Blue.

And the Gers boss has hit back at Stubbs for his controversial comments that have fanned the flames ahead of a crunch fixture on Sunday.

Warburton said: “I heard that and I would suggest that any manager without the facts keeps his mouth shut and concentrates on his club, not worry about ours.

“The key point for me is that we are very respectful of every club and every other manager.

“So unless you have any facts that I don’t know then concentrate on your own team, not ours.

“I know what we’ve spent and it’s a complete fallacy.

“It must be easy to manage Man United and Real Madrid then, I guess.

“I’m not the brightest man in the world but it takes a lot more than that to wind me up, that’s for sure.”

Warburton handed starts to several of his new recruits against the Honest Men last night as goals from Nicky Clark and Barrie McKay clinched a comfortable win and booked their place in the third round.

Spurs pair Dominic Ball and Nathan Oduwa were given their first starts after arriving at the club last week.

Forward Oduwa came in for some rough treatment at times following his headline-grabbing flick in the win over Alloa on Sunday and picked up a first-half booking for stopping Ayr taking a quick free-kick.

Warburton said: “I am not being controversial but as a referee you have to be consistent.

“There were some very poor challenges then that boy gets booked for not being far enough away at a free-kick.

“It does make your mind boggle a bit that that situation can occur.

“We came to a difficult venue and got a result.

“We created good chances and scored two good goals in the first half, but I didn’t think we were good enough in the second half.”