MARK WARBURTON hopes Rangers can lay the foundations for a successful season with a quick start to the campaign as he looks to give his side a platform to build on in the Premiership.

The Light Blues returned to Murray Park last weekend to step up their preparations for the new campaign and will jet out to South Carolina on Monday for a training camp.

After facing local side Charleston Battery in friendly action, Rangers will turn their attentions to the Betfred Cup opener against Motherwell on Saturday, July 16.

The matches against the Steelmen, Annan, Stranraer and East Stirlingshire, plus the visit of Burnley, will give Warburton plenty to think about ahead of the Premiership opener against Hamilton Accies.

And the Ibrox boss knows his side must start as they mean to go on as he targets more success in his second season at the Light Blues helm.

Warburton said: “It is the start of the season and it is the same for every club up and down the country, whether you are a pub team or in the top league.

“It is the start of a new season, the sun is shining, the pitch is in a good condition, players want to play and up and down the country there are a lot of big promises being made amongst individuals at clubs.

“What you have to do and what you find is that it is about maintaining it. It is a long season.

“Talk is cheap at the start of the season. We have to make sure we start off with a strong foundation and build on that [so] there is no initial impetus and then [we] fall away quickly.

“For us it is about building right the way through, recognising what we have to do, recognising the quality of the challenge that we face this season, but recognising that there is a lot of quality around the squad.

“So what we have to do is maximise our potential. It is about Rangers.

“We can’t focus on anyone else, just be the best we can be.

“The same as last season. Be the best we can be and see where it takes us.”

It has been a productive summer for Warburton so far as he has again overhauled his Rangers squad in preparation for a shot at the Premiership title.

The arrival of the likes of Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar have given the Ibrox crowd a renewed optimism ahead of the Gers’ return to the top flight.

And Warburton knows his side will have to be at their best as they look to make their mark next term and challenge for silverware once again.

“A good season for us is to come here and be pleased with the level of performance,” he told RangersTV.

“If you put it into a sentence, if we are pleased with the level of performance then the rest will naturally follow suit.

“It is important for us to impose ourselves on games, which we spoke about last year, important to dominate possession, to maximise it, to use our possession wisely in terms of creating chances and to rotate the squad well.

“We need a slightly bigger squad, we need that experience with the demand, the physicality of the [Premiership]. If we get the level of performance right then we will be in a good place.”