Derek McInnes not expecting busy January transfer window at Rangers

Derek McInnes will be happy to embrace a “calm” winter transfer window at Rangers.

The Gers boss refurbished the Ibrox squad this summer with 14 new signings after moving along the M8 from Hearts.

Club chairman Andrew Cavenagh told Rangers supporters at a recent fans forum not to expect much activity in January barring unforeseen circumstances as he sought to focus on stability.

Ahead of the trip to Dundee in the William Hill Premiership on Saturday night, McInnes was relaxed about the short-term change in transfer policy and stated that getting Lawrence Shankland (hamstring), Cammy Devlin (hamstring) and Daisuke Yokota (groin) back in December as expected will act as new signings.

He said: “I think we can cope in terms of numbers.

“The conversations I’ve had with both Andrew and Jim (Gillespie, chief executive) separately were a couple of weeks ago, after the Celtic game.

“We spoke about the need for January to be calm and not to become an unsettling one for us. We spoke about the importance of keeping the squad together.

“We feel that, by the beginning of December, we could have the boys I’ve just mentioned, back fit. That will feel like signing three new players, with Cammy, Daisuke and Lawrence bolstering the squad.

“Again, what the chairman said reflects the conversation we’ve had. We don’t expect to be busy in January at all.

“For me, that’s really good to hear and good to work towards. Hopefully, the players can just work towards this season and we can be as strong as we can.

“Obviously, the window gives you the opportunity to deal with injuries, loss of form or whatever. These things are always there.

“But unless there’s a figure that comes in way over the top for any of the players, I think there’s a feeling from everybody, and obviously the chairman has said it, that we want to maintain what we’ve got in the building.”

Rangers, who have won seven in a row in all competitions, can leapfrog Celtic to the top of the table with a win at fourth-placed Dundee albeit their Old Firm rivals can reclaim top spot when they take on Hearts on Sunday.

McInnes believes his side need to put in a better performance than they did in the second half of last week’s 3-1 home win over Kilmarnock, where the visitors created several chances before scoring a consolation.

The former Rangers midfielder said: “Having the players in this week has allowed us to go into the game in better shape. It doesn’t guarantee anything, of course, but once the game starts, hopefully we can deliver a big performance.

“We can’t have the performance we had in the second half last week. The drop-off was too big, although there were maybe a lot of reasons for that.

“There will be no reason for that this week. It’s up to us to deliver a big performance and recognise that we need to get more. We need to keep stepping on the gas and deliver the big performances we’re looking for.”