Barry Ferguson has admitted he is not a big fan of Rangers bringing in loan players and insists boss Steven Gerrard must focus on signing players permanently as he looks to guide the Gers to silverware.

Rangers were handed a shock exit from the Scottish Cup when they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Aberdeen in a quarter-final replay at Ibrox on Tuesday.




The Light Blues have now been knocked out of both cup competitions by the Dons this term and are eight points adrift of rivals Celtic in the race for the Scottish Premiership title.

Despite roping in as many as 15 fresh faces after the appointment of Gerrard last summer, Rangers still lacked strength in some areas and added to their arsenal by signing Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis on loan in January; the Gers already had Joe Worrall, Ryan Kent and Lassana Coulibaly on loan.
 


And after their recent setback against Aberdeen, Ferguson has revealed he is not a big fan of bringing in loan players and stressed that Rangers must look at permanent signings.

However, the Gers legend also added that the club currently have a good core of players and maintained that Gerrard should focus on adding to it in a bid to get the side on track for success.
 

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“I do think Rangers have got a good core of players, but I’m not a fan of bringing in the loan players”, Ferguson said on the PLZ Soccer show.

“I think these loan players will go back, Jermain Defoe won’t, he’s got an 18-month loan, I don’t think we’ll cancel that.

“I think in an ideal world Steven Gerrard would like to bring in players on two and three year contracts and that’s going to cost money.

“That’s when you’ve got to go out and pay transfer fees and whatever. 

"I don’t know if Rangers have got that to go and do that or whether it’s loan signings, but in an ideal world I think they need to go and get three or four players who are going to kick-start that team again.”

Rangers will next face third-placed Kilmarnock at Ibrox, when they return to action in the Premiership on Saturday.