EVERY little helps for Martyn Waghorn. From the gym to the training park, the Rangers striker continues to strive for improvement and now the search has taken him inside his own mind.

A debut campaign that yielded 28 goals and was rewarded with Championship and Petrofac Training Cup medals could have been even better for Waghorn, and he knows it. The knee injury he sustained in February denied him the chance to break the 40 barrier at Ibrox, while the collapse in the Scottish Cup final scarred Mark Warburton and his players over the summer.

As attentions have turned to the new campaign, one which must bring improvements individually and collectively, Rangers have clocked up the air miles. The trip to South Carolina over the last fortnight has proven useful on the park and off it as Warburton’s squad were put through their paces in the Charleston heat and had time to bond as they cycled and walked around the Holy City, went skeet shooting and played volleyball.

The time off the park has proven beneficial for Waghorn as well. His choice of reading – ‘Mindset’ by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck – may be unusual but it could prove the key to unlocking the 26-year-old’s potential.

"It's a good little book,” Waghorn said. “It's about trying not to let things affect me. I was a bit critical of myself last year if I was missing chances. It develops me be a better player and a better person, focusing on positives rather than negatives.

“I just picked it up. I've been working on this for a couple of years with a psychologist I speak to from time to time. It's just aimed to help me get better, and anything that can help me get one per cent better or make me a better player, then why not?

"I think Davie and gaffer might disagree the way I've been going on the training pitch. It's just about little things, dealing with success, dealing with failure, how to move on from things as quickly as you can and get better.

"Last season I didn't have the book but I'd good people around me, my wife, my family, my agent. When I got injured at Wigan it was a whole different scenario - I felt like the world was against me. Whereas at Rangers I was in a good frame of mind, I was still positive about the boys, everything was going well. Although I was injured I was in a good zone, I knew they'd take care of it. It was one of those situations where if you know your own mind it takes care of yourself."

Having proven himself in the Championship, Waghorn must now make the step up and find the same consistency, in terms of goals and performances, in the Premiership next season. He carried the weight of the Rangers forward line at times last term before Kenny Miller stepped into the main attacking role during Waghorn’s injury absence.

Warburton has added strength and depth to his squad to ensure Rangers have the best possible chance of launching a bid for the top flight title. It is a challenge Waghorn is confident the Ibrox squad can rise to.

“I think we are very fortunate with the quality of player we’ve got – the likes of Kenny Miller, Barrie McKay and me and we have added Josh Windass and Niko Krancjar,” he said. “The options are good and the competition keeps you on your toes. It’s a good mixture because we are all different players. The competition is there, the quality is undoubted and I think it’s going to be a good year.

“When I first heard of the interest I was desperate to come. Everyone knows the history and the size of the club. What happened four years ago was very disappointing tor the club but I’m pleased to be part of the project as the club rises is exciting.

“Last year is past, it’s in the history books and we have more history to write. Signing the players we have just shows how determined the club is to be where it wants to be. Everyone’s aim is to win the league. There is no doubt about that and no hiding from it.”

If Waghorn can replicate his strike rate second time out, Rangers will undoubtedly have a better chance of being involved in the title race come the end of the campaign. Questions still remain about whether Warburton’s side can compete in the top flight at the first time of asking, but the striker is relishing the chance to silence the doubters.

"It's a new challenge for me,” he said. “If I'm being honest when I came to Rangers I didn't really know much about Scottish football. The teams we were travelling to last season were a challenge and it's a new one this season, going to the likes of Aberdeen, Celtic and Hearts. It's going to be good - the rivalries, the competition. I've not yet played in an Old Firm game so I'm desperate to tick that off and experience one of them. It's a challenge for the whole squad, to be the best in Scotland.”