MARK Warburton has warned his Rangers players they will be tested just as much in the Championship this season as they were by Premiership rivals St. Johnstone earlier this week.

Warburton’s side crashed to a deeply disappointing 3-1 defeat to the Saints in the third round of the League Cup at Ibrox on Tuesday evening.

It was the first loss the Englishman, who had won his first 11 competitive games in charge of the Light Blues, had suffered since being appointed in the summer.

And it raised serious question marks over how this Gers team will fare if they manage to win promotion to the top flight in the 2015/16 campaign.

Yet, Warburton believes the games the Glasgow club will face in the second tier will be every bit as challenging as the meeting with Tommy Wright’s men.

And he has urged the likes of James Tavernier, Marty Waghorn and Danny Wilson to treat their league games every bit as seriously – starting with the meeting with Morton at Cappielow on Sunday.

The Greenock club is on a massive high after knocking Premiership opponents Motherwell out of the League Cup at home on Tuesday night – a result which prompted the Fir Park club to sack manager Ian Baraclough.

The former Brentford boss said: “It can be a bit of a shock to the system coming to play here.

“A lot of the players have been playing down south and they have come up against clubs which were playing in the Premier League in the last few years.

“They are big clubs who play at big stadiums. The challenge the players face here is different, but it can be every bit as difficult.

“Going to face a smaller team presents difficulties in terms of the kind of playing surface you are playing the game on and the size of the stadium.

“It is something that the likes of Tavernier, Foderingham, Kiernan and Waghorn won’t have experienced before and is therefore a challenge.

“When we were targeting the players we wanted to bring in during the summer we made sure we knew they had the strength of character to deal with the experience they would face up here.

“You have to deal with it. Going to some of these places in January or February will be a tough test and if they are not up to it then we will be found out.

“If we are going to recruit players from down south, we have to make sure they can deal with the challenges of playing at Championship, which are different to those they face down south.”

Warburton added: “But the boys all want to do well. It is a hungry squad and they are keen to be involved in the first team and to play well.

“The boys drive each other on and help to ensure that we achieve an acceptable standard of performance for Rangers. They are very driven and are determined to succeed this season.”