Former Celtic hero Chris Sutton has questioned if Mark Warburton could survive double defeat in Rangers' next two games.

The retired forward, who now works as a pundit for BT Sport, has cast doubt over the Ibrox manager's long-term future at the club if a decisive week goes against him in the coming days.

After losing 5-1 to Celtic and then drawing 0-0 at home to Ross County on Saturday, Rangers take on Ladbrokes Championship leaders Queen of the South at home tonight before the mouth-watering tussle in Aberdeen on Sunday.

Read more: Rangers are on the ropes but Mark Warburton is confident they can come out fighting once againGlasgow Times: Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton. Picture: SNS

Far from easy fixtures, Sutton has made it clear how significant these games could be for Warburton, particularly if his team come up short.

“I think tomorrow night is a huge game for Mark Warburton. I think it’s a game that Rangers have to win," he said.

“It’s hugely significant, all the more because Rangers then have Aberdeen on the Sunday.

Read more: Martyn Waghorn: Rangers will learn from their mistakes and continue to strive for improvement at Ibrox

“A loss-loss scenario — and I think the question would certainly be asked if he could survive that.

“If we’re being honest, when the draw was made for the quarter-finals of the Betfred Cup, you would’ve said ‘good ties for Rangers and Celtic.’

“But then Queen of the South are a team who have done particularly well this season, certainly surprised me."

Sutton has not been shy in hiding his criticism of Warburton in recent times as the situation between the Rangers manager and Joey Barton continues to escalate.

Over the weekend he hit out at the former Brentford boss by claiming the Ibrox job was too big for him.

Now speaking about his handling of the Barton row - which initially saw the former England captain banished for just under a week before being suspended for three weeks yesterday - Sutton has reinforced his opinion that a 'stronger manager' would have dealt better with the situation.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's Betfred Cup tie between Celtic and Alloa, which will be broadcast live on BT Sport, he said: “We all know what has happened in the last week at Rangers.

“I’ve already described it as weak management from Mark Warburton and I still stand by that.

“The Barton situation has got completely out of hand. He should have dealt with it on the Tuesday, there and then.

“It wouldn’t have happened under Walter Smith or my old manager Martin O’Neill.

“The stuff about the press being negative and poisonous and negative after they’ve been thumped 5-1 by their biggest rivals, well that astonished me.

“When your team is in a bit of a crisis, you’re expecting stronger management.

“Rangers are a huge club. This isn’t Brentford, this is Rangers.

“I don’t think Warburton understands the environment he’s in, I really don’t. It’s a massive problem.

Read more: Rangers are on the ropes but Mark Warburton is confident they can come out fighting once again

“It’s the same as Celtic, the supporters hang on every word which the managers say. The Barton situation, I don’t care what anybody says — it’s been handled really, really poorly."

Drawing on his own experiences of dressing room bust-ups and arguments, Sutton added: “The uncertainty is the issue.

“I’ve been in a dressing room that’s kicked off. I remember saving Stan Petrov’s life from Bobo Balde!

"Bobo merely picked me up and threw me to my locker. I did get him off Stan and the door broke. I looked alongside me and Alan Thompson was cowering in the corner, he didn’t have the gumption to get involved.

“So, these things happen. Tensions run high. We all understand that."