LEE WALLACE has predicted Rangers will have no fewer than FIVE captains on the pitch in the coming season - thanks to Pedro Caixinha's summer signing spree.

Caixinha has added both quality and experience to his squad in the close season by bringing in no fewer than nine new players.

Wallace admitted he thought the arrival of Bruno Alves, the 93-times capped Portuguese internationalist, could have brought his time as skipper to an end.

Read more: Lee Wallace: Our embarrassing European exit is firmly in the past - Rangers can challenge for the Premiership

However, the Scotland left back, who has retained the armband, now believes that half of the outfield players in the new-look Light Blues team will be leaders.

Asked if he thought that Alves would succeed him as captain when the 35-year-old defender joined him in Glasgow, he replied: "Absolutely.

"Last season when the manager brought in guys that had the tag of having a more successful career than me, had played at a higher level than me and have more international caps than me and it has happened again this year.

"But what Bruno will bring is that he will join the group of captains that we have already got. It will be a powerful tool for us as we will have five different characters within different areas and that can only be a positive thing for me and the rest of the group.

"We have five captains at the club and that will great for the team moving forward. Myself, Kenny (Miller), Bruno, Nico (Kranjcar) and Graham (Dorrans) are all captains. They are the five that the manager recognised early on as being his captains on the park.

Read more: Lee Wallace: Our embarrassing European exit is firmly in the past - Rangers can challenge for the Premiership

"I am delighted that can be the case and great for me that I can lean on any of these guys. It is also great for the rest of the squad. We have some young Portuguese guys in the squad who may look up to Bruno Alves and think this is my hero which is great for Rangers.

"I will still happily have the main responsibility and I will still be the one that has to face up to any disappointment or scrutiny."

Meanwhile, Wallace has revealed he is motivated by a fear of being remembered as a Rangers captain who failed to lead the Ibrox club to a major honour.

Wallace has been unable to lay his hands on the Ladbrokes Premiership, League Cup or Scottish Cup trophies since taking over from Lee McCulloch two seasons ago.

Yet, the left-back, who helped Caixinha’s team round off their pre-season programme with a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Sunday, is confident his side can challenge strongly for all three titles, including the league, in the coming months.

"I am still a young captain as I have only been two years in the role and I am at an enormously big club,” he said. “But I am driven on by the fact that I do not want to go down in history as a Rangers captain that does not win any major silverware.

Read more: Lee Wallace: Our embarrassing European exit is firmly in the past - Rangers can challenge for the Premiership

"It is a unique situation for myself, but I recognise that challenge and I want to become a captain at Rangers who does lift silverware. I will keep working hard and learning in the role to make sure that is the case.

Asked if he thought Rangers could challenge their city rivals Celtic, who won all three domestic trophies last season, in the coming months, Wallace said: "It has to be that way.

"That never changes. It has always been the mindset in the seven years that I have started a pre-season. We knew at the lesser levels that winning the league would be more achievable, but in the top flight that has to be the aim. It cannot be anything other than that.

"We understand the realism of the challenge, but we will not change or deviate from how we will approach every game. We want to win every game and every tournament that we enter.”

Rangers struggled on their return to the top flight last season and finished no fewer than 39 points behind eventual winners Celtic, who beat them in five of the six matches they played, as well as nine behind second-placed Aberdeen.

But Wallace has been impressed by the quality of signing Caixinha has made in the close season and is confident the title race will be far closer this term.

“We absolutely have to feel that way,” he said. “There’s no point turning up at training every day if we don’t feel like that. We have to feel we can close the gap. That’s a big motivation for us this year. We need to close that gap.

Read more: Lee Wallace: Our embarrassing European exit is firmly in the past - Rangers can challenge for the Premiership

“It’s about the players who have arrived from all different places settling quickly and adapting to the demands. We need to be competitive in every competition we play in. Slowly but surely, we are getting there. I feel the positivity and it’s up to us players to make sure we start off the league campaign well. This season we need to start with a win."

Wallace added: “We are all disappointed by last season and we are happy we have added the new players. There was excitement in the close season when these players were being linked with us and once you get them over the line it’s great to be working with them.

“Everyone knows Bruno. You don’t need me to tell you about his quality. We’ve got Graham, who I’ve played with at Scotland level and I’ve watched his quality down south. He adds quality, so does Ryan Jack. I’m really enjoying working with all the new signings.”