David Weir today hailed Rangers’ hard-working players and insisted they fully deserve the prizes and plaudits that have come their way during a glory-laden campaign.

The Gers assistant, who returned to Govan last summer with new boss Mark Warburton as part of the Rangers revolution, has watched on from the dug-out as the Glasgow club eased to the SPFL Championship, lifted the Petrofac Cup and set up the chance of a treble with victory over Celtic in the last four of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Warburton, who has used his knowledge of academy and lower league teams south of the border in a successful recruitment policy, rang the changes when he took over the reins as he looked to build his own team following the failed promotion push last season.

A number of expensive and under-achieving players were shown the door in the wake of a 6-1 aggregate defeat by Motherwell in the play-off final as the new manager cleared the decks ahead of a major facelift.

And Weir, the 45-year-old who formed a successful alliance with Warburton during their time together at Brentford, applauded the Rangers players for embracing Warburton’s ways and buying into the Englishman’s ultimately triumphant philosophy.

Speaking on the official Rangers website, Hall of Famer Weir said: “The players have worked exceptionally hard this season, the goal has been clear in regards to what is expected of them and what is perceived as being successful.

“They’ve achieved that and they’ve achieved it with time to spare, so they deserve the accolades that are coming their way.

“It’s never easy to win a league, any league, so they have done that and deserve everything that goes with it.

“They have worked hard from day one in terms of how they have trained, how they have conducted themselves and doing what Mark and I have asked them to do.

“So we’re really happy with the response we have had from them and all we wanted was for them to get the rewards they deserve.”