MARK WARBURTON insists he doesn’t have to defend striker Joe Garner – because his Ibrox critics are talking ‘nonsense’.

The 28-year-old has scored three times in 14 appearances for the Light Blues following his summer switch from Preston North End.

But many have questioned whether Warburton is getting value for money at present after sanctioning a £1.8million move to bring Garner to Rangers.

The Englishman was one of the stars of the show on Saturday as Warburton’s side beat Aberdeen to move back up to second spot in the Premiership standings.

Garner has added a physical presence to the Gers attack but has now gone five games without a goal for the Ibrox outfit.

He has admitted that it will take him time to adjust to life in Glasgow as he looks to get up to speed and adapt to the Warburton blueprint as quickly as possible.

And the Ibrox boss is confident there to plenty more to come from Garner in the coming weeks that will silence his critics.

Warburton told rangers.co.uk: “Joe Garner I thought was excellent on Saturday, he gave us an aerial outlet as well, won a number of first balls, showed his physicality, his presence and the dynamism of his movements.

“So there is an outlet for us as long as it is a cultured forward ball we will find him.

“The best thing to do is always find the space behind and what our job to do is to find that and we will keep working on that. Teams will press on and we have to find the answers to that.

“The nonsense that is written about Joe Garner, I haven’t got to defend him, how am I going to defend him?

“He scored three goals in six games but he is coming in finding his feet, finding out what it means to play for a club of this stature. He is an experienced pro and I have no doubts about him.

“I am delighted for him and was delighted our crowd could see what Joe is all about; he has a first class work ethic and desire.

“You see his movement, his ability and his qualities were there for everyone to see on Saturday.

“He enjoys his football and has a desire to play, he enjoys the game and he is learning how we play, he gets more of the ball in different areas of the park with runners going beyond him and there will be certain elements which are new to him.

“He is a good pro, a good learner, a smart guy and he is picking up things very quickly.”