MARK WARBURTON won’t get into a war of words with Hibernian boss Alan Stubbs after defending Rangers’ pursuit of Scott Allan this summer.

Rangers saw three bids for the midfielder rejected by the Easter Road board before he clinched a switch to Old Firm rivals Celtic last week.

Hibs boss Stubbs reckons the Light Blues had privately urged Allan to sit tight in the Capital and agree a pre-contract deal with Warburton’s side in January.

The Gers gaffer said: “I would like to talk about it but I won’t. I clearly believe that as a club have acted with integrity and professionalism throughout the whole saga.

“So I’m not going to lower ourselves now. I think we’re far better than that.

“Hopefully we have displayed the right level of professionalism throughout the whole saga.

“I’m not going to comment about another manager far from it.

“But I’ve always said that I only want players here who want to play for Rangers Football Club. I have made that really clear.

“I’m guessing he (Allan) didn’t want to be at Hibs, that’s what I’m presuming, but that’s not my business.”

Having missed out on a deal for Allan, Warburton is now closing in on a move for another loan star as he bids to bolster his Ibrox squad once again following the arrivals of defender Dominic Ball and forward Nathan Oduwa from Spurs.

Stoppers Darren McGregor and Marius Zaliukas have seemingly fallen down the Gers pecking order this term but Warburton, who has ruled out an Ibrox return for Haris Vuckic, is keen for his players to fight for their place.

He said: “We want a lean and hungry squad. I thought (Rob) Kiernan had his best game for us [against Alloa] and did well against an aerial threat.

“I think he and Danny (Wilson) are forming a partnership. Centre halves need to play together to get an understanding and they are getting better game by game.

“At the moment it’s difficult for people to get a shirt but I want competition for places.”

After making it two from two in the Championship with a 5-1 win over Alloa on Sunday, Rangers return to knock-out action at Ayr tomorrow night.

And Warburton is relishing the second-round clash against the Honest Men as Rangers look to maintain their momentum this term.

He said: “We played them behind closed doors in pre-season and looking at their personnel from Saturday they haven’t changed much.

“We’re prepared. There are no weakened teams and no lesser competitions, we have to go into every game with that winning mentality.

“There is a feel-good factor here and we want to build on that.

“I understand it’s a good surface so we’re looking forward to that and I enjoy another challenge.”