MARK WARBURTON reckons Rangers would be ‘faring very well’ if they were playing Premiership football this season.

The Light Blues have stormed out of the blocks this term and are already seven points clear at the top of the Championship as they set their sights on a top flight return.

Rangers have scored 40 goals as they have won their first 11 games on Warburton’s watch and now have a chance to take a Premiership scalp when they face St Johnstone in the League Cup this evening.

The Gers are widely expected to win the second tier title this season and fans are confident they can see off the Saints at Ibrox as they bid for a fourth round berth.

And Warburton reckons his squad have already shown they are capable of competing at a higher level as they gear up to face Tommy Wright’s side.

He said: “We’d be sitting with a couple of more players as we’d need a bit more depth for that level.

“I think we’d be faring very well. It’s all hypothetical but you watch us often enough and I think we are a good squad, technically sound, physically strong, we have good tactical awareness and a strong mental belief.

“I think the fact we have won 11 games on the spin tells you they are mentally strong as well. So in the four key areas we’ve got good quality.

“I’m not saying we are the best or anything like that only that we are in a good position right now and we want to keep on building from here.”

It has been a hugely impressive opening few weeks for Rangers as Warburton and his players have hit the ground running and recorded a string of wins.

Victory tonight would be another significant result for the Ibrox side but the 53-year-old insists the outcome either way won’t change his belief in his Gers stars.

Warburton said: “I think the players know that [they are capable of playing at Premiership level].

“We’ve got to look at our own squad and talk every day about our self-belief and our confidence.

“One game it’s change that. You can’t build your self-belief from the first day of pre-season training and have it broken on one result.

“So we know we’re a good squad, not in an arrogant way, but we think we’re a good squad and we’re confident in our ability and we look forward to such challenges.

“It’s just another challenge. Going to Dumbarton is a challenge, going to Alloa is a challenge, going to Dumbarton in January will be a challenge and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way but it will be and we’ve got to rise to it. One game won’t be a barometer for us.”

After hitting the goal trail in the first few weeks of the campaign, Rangers have had to settle for three and two strikes in their last two outings as they have beaten Livingston and Dumbarton.

Teams are now setting up to stifle Rangers’ free-flowing forward line in a bid to halt Warburton’s side in their tracks.

But the Gers boss isn’t certain the Saints will follow suit when they make the trip to Ibrox tonight.

Warburton said: “I’m not sure if I’m honest. We’ve spoken to the players and done our analysis, we always look at them and then we look at us. Our strengths and their supposed weaknesses, as we see it.

“But we’re not sure what they’re going to do, are they going to play high as they did against Celtic or drop off and let us come and try to catch us on the counter. I don’t know we’ll find out [tonight] at 7.15pm.

“All we can do is put forward the various scenarios and then react to them as they occur.”