MARK WARBURTON believes Scottish kids aren’t being given the best chance of succeeding in the game because they aren’t challenged by heading outside their comfort zone.

The Rangers boss is keen to send several of his youngsters on loan deals in the coming weeks in a bid to help them gain vital experience in a competitive environment.

Murray Park protégés Liam Kelly and Tom Walsh have joined Livingston and St Mirren respectively for the first half of the new campaign.

But Warburton reckons it would be more beneficial if his up-and-coming talents could secure a switch south of the border instead.

He said: “We just have to challenge them. Send them to the best level they can play at.

“We need to take them out their comfort zone and really see how they get on. Look at Waggy and Tav and where they’ve been to.

“Look at other loanees. David Button, our goalkeeper at Brentford, had 13 loans.

“Dom Ball, young Spurs guy, goes out on loan to Cambridge, doesn’t play there, then goes out on loan to Rangers.

“He gets an apartment, settles down, comes to train and deals with it. We send all the local boys just around here.

“We get stuck in a rut I think. Where are we going to send them? And the immediate thought process is to send them locally.

“We should be saying, ‘where is the best club that is going to challenge them?’ And if it’s down in Cornwall, Torquay or Bournemouth then do it. But we don’t. The mindset now is to keep them local.

“It’s not about mollycoddling them as they’re good players, tough individuals.

“We just have to challenge them. People say there aren’t enough players coming through the system to help Gordon Strachan and the national team in Scotland.

“There are some really good players in Scotland. But are we giving them the best chance to make that transition? England hasn’t got that right either but there are more coming through down south.

“The only reasons academies exist is to get players into the first team. Sometimes there’s so much talk about ticking boxes in academies but it’s about getting players through.

“If you’re not doing that then at some stage directors will turn around and ask why do we have an academy?

“So we have to produce players and give them the chance to be the best they can be. Tom Walsh has gone to St Mirren, a Championship club and that will be a good division this year.

“So I’m not saying that’s a bad loan but we have to think about each player and not just send them round the corner because it’s local.”

Warburton used the loan market to bolster his squad last season as Dominic Ball and Gedion Zelalem enjoyed productive spells north of the border.

Several Gers kids made moves to the lower leagues in Scotland and the Ibrox hopefuls will have to prove themselves on the road once again in the coming months.

Warburton said: “It’s a blunt conversation, in the nicest possible way. You turn round and say ‘are you better than Andy Halliday, Jason Holt, Niko Kranjcar, Jordan Rossiter, Harry Forrester?’

“That’s it, if you’re not there is no point being the 20th man every week and travel with the squad. They won’t develop as players, so they have got to go out and play and we’ve got to encourage them.

“The Under-20 league won’t suit them, they won’t benefit from the Under-20 league, there’s nothing to be gained by that at all. So go out and play competitive football where the guy alongside you needs to pay his mortgage.

“That’s what they need to do and experience what it’s like to lose three points on Saturday.

“If we can get the boys doing that, all the loans will be until Christmas and then we can review each individual loan and go from there.”