Tuesday 20 September 2016 20:12, UK
Rangers will be without midfielder Joey Barton for Tuesday night's Betfred Cup quarter-final at home to Queen of the South after he was suspended by the club for three weeks.
The controversial midfielder has been disciplined following last week's training ground row with boss Mark Warburton and team-mate Andy Halliday.
Warburton refused to discuss the saga but insisted morale in his camp had not been damaged by last week's in-fighting.
The manager said: "We trained on Monday morning outstandingly well. The team spirit is good. Don't forget we're trying to bed in a number of new players, so it takes time sometimes.
"Last year it happened very quickly but we had a complete blank canvas. This year we've gone to another level, introducing different players of different age-groups, different experiences but we've been really happy with the way we've been trained.
"We're getting a lot better. The balance is getting better and I'm delighted so far that we're making real progress this week."
Queen of the South manager Gavin Skelton has a full squad to choose from as he looks to take the Championship leaders into the last four.
The Palmerston Park side have won their last seven games but Skelton knows they will have to improve again if they are to prevail at Ibrox.
"This is a big game for us and it is also a big game for Rangers as there is a semi-final place at stake," he said.
"We will need to play at the very top of our game and hope that they are slightly off theirs to have a chance of going through."
