The two Eastern Bloc stars at Murray Park

With January’s transfer window upon us, Rangers’ manager Mark Warburton has started in earnest to make strides towards supplementing the squad by trialing two Eastern Bloc stars in Lech Poznan’s giant goalkeeper Majiec Gostomski and Skonto Riga’s hitman Vladislavs Gutkovskis.

Gostomski hails from Poland, and at 27 has made a solid career for himself in his homeland. Currently contracted to Polish champions Poznan, that contract will expire in a little over two weeks and the 6ft 5 colossus is looking for a challenge anew. As suggested yesterday, if the stopper impresses, he will be healthy competition for established no 1 Wes Foderingham.

The other trialist is Latvia’s Gutkovskis. With Rangers in desperate need of another solid striker to enhance the attacking armaments, 28 in 34 appearances for Latvian cracks Skonto Riga suggests the 6 ft striker is a hint of the installation of a more robust ‘plan B’ Mark Warburton requires when things are not going Rangers’ way, but as this video shows, the lad can certainly play a bit too.

Still needed are a defender and a defensive midfielder but if these two join up it can only help Rangers’ cause.