RANGERS will not make a bid to bring Accrington Stanley pair Matt Crooks and Josh Windass to Ibrox before the end of the January transfer window.

The duo are out of contract with the League Two side in the summer and penned four-year deals with the Light Blues earlier this week as boss Mark Warburton bolstered his ranks for next season.

Rangers will have to pay training compensation to Stanley for both players but could have gone to the table with a cash offer this month in a bid to bring Crooks and Windass north of the border early.

The defender and forward have re-affirmed their commitment to the Stanley cause in recent days and Warburton is happy for them to finish the campaign in England as John Coleman’s side bid for promotion to the third tier.

Warburton said: “No, they’re Accrington players till the end of the season and I’m sure they will do their very best for Accrington, which is the very right thing for them to do and I’m sure they will be looked after as well.

“We’re comfortable where they are, doing a good job for their club and developing as individuals and players.”

Rangers have come under fire for their conduct in recent days after Crooks and Windass signed on the dotted line and confirmed they will leave Accrington at the end of the campaign.

Stanley owner Andy Holt has launched a series of attacks as he has hit out at the way the Gers carried out their business, while boss Coleman accused his players of being ‘disrespectful’.

Rangers emailed Accrington to inform them they would be speaking to both players about a Bosman switch and Warburton insists the Ibrox side have acted properly throughout the process.

He said: “It’s important… we’ve acted within the letter of the law, so to speak. It is what it is.

“What goes around comes around. It happens many times in different situations to many people.

“The club have acted perfectly responsibly and appropriately in the situation and that’s the end result.

“It’s about going about our business in what we feel is the right way in this situation.

“Everyone has an opinion in football - that’s the beauty of the game - but we’re comfortable with the fact we hope we acted in the right manner. We have followed due process and procedure and that’s the end result.

“It’s down to opinion. Other managers will tell you, and I take phone calls from other managers and coaches when they are targeting our players.

“I do the same and they are always private phone calls. You try to explain what you do and why you’re doing it, in the appropriate manner.

“We’ve dealt with it the right way. We’ve got the result we wanted and the players wanted and we hope they go back to Accrington and fight for the play-offs and have a good season.”

It has been a productive start to the transfer market for Warburton in recent days, with the deals for Crooks and Windass coming after forward Harry Forrester and keeper Maciej Gostomski agreed contracts until the end of the campaign.

And the Ibrox boss will now turn his attentions to retaining three of his top performers after opening talks with a trio of Ibrox stars.

Warburton said: “We are talking to Andy Halliday, Jason Holt and Barrie McKay.

“Things are going very well there, so I’m hopeful we will be able to announce something with them very, very soon in terms of extensions.

“They have all fully justified it with their levels of performance and that’s how we have to act as a club. We have to reward performance and consistency of performance.”