NIGEL SPACKMAN is confident Mark Warburton is at Rangers for the long haul and won’t give up his position at Ibrox to make a quick-fire return to England.

The 53-year-old has lead his side to the Championship title and Petrofac Training Cup already this term and will now bid for Scottish Cup glory against Hibernian on Saturday.

Warburton’s profile south of the border remains high following his success with Brentford before he joined the Gers alongside assistant David Weir last summer.

And former Ibrox midfielder Spackman reckons the chance to win silverware in Scotland and compete in Europe will be an enticing proposition for Warburton for a while yet.

He said: “If you look back at Brentford, it is not just this year that he has done well, he has done well in the last couple of years.

“At Brentford, he did a great job to get them into the play-offs and people were shocked that he was leaving.

"The owners wanted to go in a different direction and he had the opportunity to go to Rangers, which is a magnificent club. It was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.

“Having watched him at Brentford, I knew the style of play he would try and bring to Rangers. But it is very difficult because you don’t know the league and you are trying to play winning football and bring players in.

“People down south see Rangers as a massive club and say that Mark is doing a great job.

"He has won the league, he is in the cup final and his stock is high so there will be clubs keeping an eye on that.

“But I am not sure Mark will be tempted away from here too quickly. Getting Rangers into the Premiership, maybe even playing Europa League football, where would you want to go? Aston Villa? Which is in an utter decline.

“Would you rather take that on or be with Rangers and enjoy your football in the Premiership and maybe the Europa League.

“Yes, clubs are looking at him but I don’t see him leaving here. I think he wants to do a good job here and build on it.

“He needs the backing of the board. How much they can support him, I don’t know. That is going to be a big test going forward.”

Having achieved his main aim and clinched the Championship crown this term, Warburton is now preparing for a shot at the top flight title and a potential European campaign as he targets Scottish Cup success this weekend.

The Ibrox boss has already completed deals for Matt Crooks, Josh Windass and Jordan Rossiter, while moves for Joey Barton and Nico Kranjcar are still in the pipeline.

And Spackman is pleased to see Rangers being able to build on the solid foundations that have been put in place since the boardroom battle came to an end last March.

He said: “Instability in the boardroom affects the club in a big way and it affects the supporters. Do they want to support that regime or don’t they?

“It is great to see Dave King has come in and brought stability to the club. There is a long way to go but the stability is there.

“We can’t get carried away about big investment in the team. I don’t think the board can do that, they have to be patient on it. The big thing for Mark and the playing staff is where they are going and that they are all in it together.

“They have got to be sensible about it and he is a sensible guy so he will know how the club runs. Going forward, there will be more pressure on the board to invest if things aren’t going quite as well as expected.”