Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is ready to trim his first-team squad following their pre-season training camp.
The Gers rounded off a trip to Portugal with a 2-0 training-ground win over Mansfield on Saturday when 30 players were handed action.
Gerrard had already left the likes of Graham Dorrans, Eros Grezda, Jordan Rossiter, Jason Holt and Kyle Lafferty at home when flying out to the Algarve.
Young players such as Jamie Barjonas and Josh McPake supplemented the squad in Portugal but Gerrard will tighten things up as he prepares for their Europa League opener on July 11.
He told Rangers TV: “We have naturally got a big squad at the moment so some will drop out and by doing that, the quality will rise as well.
“That isn’t to say not everyone has quality – it just naturally happens when you have less numbers.
“It has been a fantastic week and the boys have applied themselves very well and we are probably slightly ahead of where I thought we would be right now.”
Rangers host Oxford in a friendly on Sunday before facing St Joseph’s of Gibraltar or Kosovan side Prishtina in the Europa League. The scores are tied at 1-1 ahead of the second leg in the British territory this week.
Gerrard said: “We’re not ready for it right now, but there is still time. We’ll have another strong week in terms of hitting them leg-wise and then we will naturally come off them.
“But by the time that first game comes around, we’ll be ready to compete and get the job done when we have to.”
