MARK Warburton has insisted that James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn remain firmly committed to the Rangers cause despite the pair rejecting improved deals from the Ibrox club.

Both Tavernier and Waghorn, who were first team regulars last season as Warburton’s side won the Ladbrokes Championship and Petrofac Training Cup, are under contract for another two years.

Their representative is, following the arrival of the high-profile players Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar this summer, in talks with club officials about enhanced terms and the duo have turned down an initial offer.

However, Warburton is unhappy with suggestions that negotiations have broken down and expressed optimism the right back and striker would follow his lead - he has pledged his future to Rangers until 2019 – and sign new agreements.

“They are two guys who are talking to their advisors and with the club as everyone else does,” he said. “It's normal practice. But to say these two boys have 'rejected this' is inappropriate. They are committed to the club.

“They were magnificent for us last season and I think they will be again this season. I have no doubt they have thoroughly enjoyed their time at Rangers. They have loved being here. Their families are settled here.”

Warburton, the former Brentford manager, was bemused by reports that he had knocked back the offer of a new contract in the summer and with subsequent online speculation that he was set to return to England which emerged when he was away on holiday.

The 53-year-old and his assistant Davie Weir, who signed three year deals when they joined the club last summer, have now agreed to extend their stays at the Glasgow club for another year.

Asked if he thought Rangers could reach similar arrangements with Tavernier and Waghorn, he said: "I've every confidence. They love being here. It was a big move to come here. They are committed, and their families are in schools and their partners are settled. They are committed to Glasgow Rangers.

“They love their time here. I'm disappointed for them that they are getting negativity because they don't deserve it. They've shown how much it means to play for Glasgow Rangers and that won't change.

"They've got two years still to run on their contracts. They got 43 goals between them last season. Their contribution was clear and they know how it works. They have been given a stage here to flourish. They have responded to our supporters.

“I hope our supporters know how committed they are, the quality they have shown and their desire to be part of Rangers going forward. I'm just disappointed that two players like that are getting negativity because they don't deserve it.

“They only had three weeks off after the cup final. They deserved some downtime. We've not had a chance to discuss their situations. We've not seen their representatives. People are making a big deal of 'why hasn't A, B and C happened?' It's because of time constraints. I'm sure the two guys are happy here, committed here and we are delighted to have them here too.”

Warburton had his first look at new signing Barton, who was unable to join Rangers on their pre-season trip to the United States due to the fact he was still under contract with former club Burnley and had committed to media work at the Euro 2016 finals in France, in training at Auchenhowie on Monday.

However, he confirmed the former Manchester City, Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers midfielder would not be considered for the opening competitive fixture of the 2016/17 campaign – the Betfred Cup match with Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday – due to his lack of match fitness.

"It was good to see him,” he said. “Him and Lee Hodson came in and it was great to introduce them to the squad. But we'll introduce them slowly. Lee's been away with the Euros and Joey's had an extended break.

“Saturday might be too soon for Joey, but Lee was away and training so I'm sure he'll be involved in some capacity. Jordan Rossiter is away with England's under-19s so he won't be back till after that. It will depend on how they get on.”

Warburton has made no secret of his dislike for the new format of the League Cup. His side will face four games against Motherwell, Annan, East Stirling and Stranraer in the space of nine days and he confessed he would treat the matches like pre-season friendlies.

"We've got boys who've played 45 minutes of football over in Charleston so it is what it is,” he said. “It's difficult in terms of ideal preparation, but we'll get on with it. The boys are fit and ready, but it's early in our pre-season programme in terms of matches.

"The problem is substitutions. Ideally, you could have both teams agreeing you can have six, seven, eight substitutions. That way you can build up the loading on each player. But it's a competitive competition, it's the League Cup. We have to go with three substitutes.

“You could have eight players playing 90 minutes and in terms of preparation is far from ideal. I'm not devaluing the League Cup, it's one of the big three trophies, but it's very early. The boys have had three and a half weeks off and they're back in.

“It's not like they had an extended break - the cup final, even though we were delighted to be in it, took three weeks off their break.”

That, though, is not a new situation for Warburton. The Petrofac Training Cup game against Hibs at Easter Road last season – his first competitive fixture in charge - was played at the end of July and Rangers romped to a 6-2 triumph.

"We said at the time it was part of our pre-season programme,” he said. “Yes, the result went our way, and it was great for the team in terms of self-belief and gelling but this is very early in the programme.

“The fact we've four games in nine days is a real issue because you lose nine days of pre-season. You play, recover, play, recover. I'm not complaining about it, it's just not ideal.”

Warburton, who confirmed he was working on making more signings and was hopeful of bringing in more new faces, believes the friendly against Burnley will be a better test ahead of their opening Ladbrokes Premiership game against Hamilton at Ibrox on August 6.

"Burnley will be a good test for us,” he said. “I know Sean (Burnley manager Dyche) very well. He'll bring a full-strength side to Ibrox and it'll be a good occasion for us. But we needed more of those, building up to that kind of standard. Then we have a week of training and we're right into the campaign."