PEDRO CAIXINHA is confident his latest Rangers recruit will quickly get up to speed in Light Blue after signing on the dotted line at Ibrox.

But the Portuguese will have to do without winger Daniel Candeias for the Europa League clash with Progres Niederkorn on Thursday night.

Caixinha added three players to his ranks last week as Alfredo Morelos, Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera put pen-to-paper ahead of the new campaign.

All three could make their debuts against Progres as Rangers look to take a first leg lead into the return fixture in Luxembourg next Tuesday.

There will be no place for Candeias, however, after he completed his move from Benfica at the end of a loan stint with Alanyaspor.

Caixinha said: “They (Pena and Herrera) are on our list for our first qualifier, so is Alfredo Morelos.

“The only one we could not get is because the transfer window is different and I think in this situation UEFA should have exceptions. The timings are different in different countries.

“I am talking about Daniel Candeias. He was in Turkey and he needs to receive it by the system on the first of July so we could not get it for the first qualifier and we hope to have him on the second one.

“For Morelos and the two Mexicans, now they need to adapt to European football so we needed them on board as soon as possible to know the reality, how massive this club is, to know their team-mates, to review again the process about what it means to train with us.

“And to know the facilities, to know the stadium, to know the fans, to know the media, to know everything.

“I do think in a couple of weeks they will be adapted and they can start performing for us as well.”

It has been a productive summer for Caixinha as he has added eight players to his squad ahead of Rangers’ return to European action and the new Premiership campaign.

The Gers boss has utilised the Auchenhowie youth ranks during his pre-season preparations as a number of Under-20 stars have been given a chance to shine.

Caixinha could look to send some of his kids out on loan this term but he is keen to have plenty of competition for places at Ibrox.

“We need to take those decisions regarding the squad organisation but definitely we want a small squad, that means it is going to be a competitive squad,” he told RangersTV.

“At least two players fighting for the position for us to be competitive inside in order for us to be much more competitive outside.

“Those boys and other boys from the Under-20s are the boys we are going to use, always trying to coach them in the right direction not only for the specifics but also about the collective demands from our team.”