Rangers manager Graeme Murty is confident the return of his cap crusaders will boost the club as they rejoin the squad after spending the last week on international duty.

The Gers take on Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday but with a handful of players only returning to the club today from their spell with their national teams, Murty’s usual pre-match schedule has been disrupted.

He is clear though, that the more of his players gaining international experience, the better.

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“You look at people like Declan John coming to Rangers and then getting his call-up and helping towards a fantastic win for his team,” he told Rangers TV.

“Bruno (Alves) getting back in the Portuguese side, Jamie Murphy getting on the pitch and Jason Cummings being in and around it so we’re looking at people coming here and getting international recognition."

Rangers players have been heavily represented in junior Scotland teams recently and Murty is understandably thrilled by his young players progress. But it is, he says, no more than should be expected from every one of the players at Ibrox and he is confident that these players will not rest on their laurels and will continue to push forward.

“That’s great for us and they’re showing up really well but we want to continue that - we don’t want to ever get to a stage where we stop striving to improve,” he said.

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“And those guys know that when they come back here, they’ve got to kick on, particularly the younger players because there’s no point being in the under-17 team if you don’t then make that transition into the senior group.

“So we want to get caps at the highest standard that we possibly can. You come to a big club like this to play in big games and to get international recognition - that should be par for the course at this club.”

Meanwhile, Murty also paid tribute to Niko Kranjcar, who left the club by mutual consent this week.

“Niko has been a top professional - he’s worked extremely hard but he hasn’t had the best of time with injuries,” The Light Blues manager said.

“So we’ve made the decision mutually to go our separate ways and we wish Niko all the best.

“For me, he’s been really good to work with and a good guy to have around. Technically, he’s possibly the best player I’ve seen up close as a coach but we just thought it was appropriate for him and respectful to him to allow him to seek out new opportunities.”