MARK WARBURTON is confident the future is bright at Ibrox as Rangers attempt to produce the next stars generation of stars at Auchenhowie.

Gers kids Ryan Hardie and Liam Burt made their Scotland Under-21 debuts in the defeat to Iceland last week and could feature again for Scot Gemmill’s side against Macedonia on Tuesday.

Warburton is a strong advocate of bringing players through the youth ranks and was a key figure in the NextGen series before making the move into management.

And the 54-year-old hopes Academy chief Craig Mulholland and his team will see their efforts rewarded in the coming years as budding Light Blues bid to make the grade at Ibrox.

“I look at the quality of talent coming through the English academy system at 17s and at 19s, and the England Under-16s right now are staggering in terms of quality,” he told Rangers TV. “They’ve got players right the way through the system.

“Our job as Rangers’ management is to get the best players we can get here.

“If we’ve got a loan option down south which makes us a better team we have to take it and that is a challenge to our Academy, and that is one I know they’ll rise to.

“We have to produce players, and there is outstanding young talent in Scotland, which we will choose over the southern options.

“That’s the key, we’ve got to do it and it won’t happen overnight, but as a manager we have to go and produce the best team for Rangers Football Club, ideally packed with home-grown talent. But it does take time.

“We have got some really good people in the Academy and Craig Mulholland is leading a top team of people.

“What we have to do is give him time and the Academy time to produce the players, but they know the level of expectation.

“They know the academies to look at with the likes of Spurs down south which produces player after player coming through their ranks, international players for England.

“That’s what we have to do here at Rangers and the quicker we can do that the better.”