MARK WARBURTON insists Rangers are not miles away from being in a position to challenge Old Firm rivals Celtic for the Premiership title.

The Light Blues suffered their first defeat of the campaign as they went down 3-1 to St Johnstone on Tuesday night but head to Morton tomorrow aiming to make it eight wins out of eight in the Championship.

A superb start to the season has made Warburton’s side huge favourites to clinch the second tier crown this term and return to the top flight.

The central defensive partnership of Danny Wilson and Rob Kiernan came under the spotlight in the aftermath of the Saints defeat in midweek.

But Warburton is confident his side are on the right track as they look to take another step towards the Premiership at Cappielow.

He said: “You can say you are miles away from them (Celtic). I don’t think so.

“If you talk about partnerships of individual players, some of the Premier League players they are talking about taking a year to settle in.

“Rob and Danny came together on June 27th having never met each other before. Dom Ball behind them, who’s just turned 20, came in in July.

“The actual getting together and gelling on the training ground, they’ve not had that many weeks together.

“It does take time. Before Tuesday, you’ll admit that we conceded very few goals and were in good shape. You could say they are learning and have done a great job.

“Tuesday was a harsh lesson for them as we conceded three goals and gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

“But I’m rational. There’s no panic from our side and no lack of confidence. If we learn from it, we’ll be better for it. That’s what I’m saying.”

Ibrox chairman Dave King was bullish about Rangers’ chances of Premiership success next season when he spoke on a trip to Glasgow earlier this month.

King claimed that the gap to Celtic was not as big as he initially thought it was, and Warburton is confident he will have a squad in place capable of making the step up should the Gers win promotion at the second attempt this term.

He said: “I think we probably need three to five players. I’ve read the articles with Mr King’s comments and we’re in close communication.

“You can lose players. There’s different scenarios – you can have players taken from you if bids come in, you can have injured players and others whose contracts are up.

“There’s so many scenarios involved in football. We might be looking for three next year or looking for seven.

“With the squad right now, we have a number of players who can step up but we’d like to add two or three definitely for more depth.”