MARK WARBURTON is confident the best is yet to come from Rangers this season as they look to pull away at the top of the Championship standings.

The Light Blues have dropped seven points in their last five league outings and head into a crunch double header against Falkirk and Hibernian with a narrow advantage in the title race.

After making a stunning start to the season as they hit the goal trail and notched up 11 successive Championship wins, Warburton’s side have found the going tougher in recent weeks as they have struggled to maintain their high performance levels.

Rangers will face the Bairns this afternoon before hosting Hibernian at Ibrox on December 28 in what could be a key couple of weeks at the top of the table.

And, when asked if the best was still to come from his side this season, Warburton said: “I think so.

“It is a balancing game. It is making sure that we develop the club's young players, because they become assets, assets in terms of playing assets and balance sheet assets as well.

“But, at the same time, make sure they are not being asked to do too much too early.

“You need to have that seniority and January will be about us moving to get the right people in that might add a bit of physicality or seniority to what we already have.

“It is about getting the balance right. The key one must be to prepare our players for the second half of the season.”

A number of Warburton’s players have been unable to keep up their superb form throughout the campaign and Rangers have been far from their best in recent weeks.

Forward Nathan Oduwa has found himself in and out of the starting line-up for the last few matches but the Spurs kid has been backed to recapture his form and showcase his talents once again sooner rather than later.

Warburton said: “He is 19. If they are the finished article, if they don't make mistakes then they don't come out on loan, they are playing in the first team at Spurs.

“(Alex) Pritchard went out, (Nabil) Bentaleb, (Massimo) Luongo, (Ryan) Mason, they go out on loan and learn and come back.

“Nathan came out, hit the ground running and got everyone's attention. He has a magnificent wow factor for the first seven or eight weeks then there is the understanding that the expectation doesn't go away, it is constant from the fans, the media and what it is playing for Rangers.

“He had a small dip but he trained outstandingly well today. Young players have peaks and troughs. As long as you get more peaks than troughs then you will be ok.”