RANGERS boss Mark Warburton has defended the Glasgow giants capture of Accrington Stanley stars Josh Windass and Matt Crooks.

The Reds duo both signed pre-contract agreements with the Gers this week and they will move to Ibrox at the end of the season.

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With both players aged 21, Stanley would have been due a larger compensation fee had they signed for another English club, but their decision to move north of the border means they will now only receive a nominal training fee for Windass and Crooks.

Stanley's majority shareholder Andy Holt has been vocal in his criticism of the rules which mean his club will lose their two star players for "next to nothing", with Windass and Crooks netting 18 goals between them this season.

But Holt, who invested £1.2million in the club earlier this season, was also critical of the way Rangers handled their approach for the two players.

Last week he published an e-mail sent from Rangers' director of football administration Andrew Dickson to Stanley's secretary informing them of the club's plans to approach Windass and Crooks on Twitter.

And he also tweeted Rangers official account: "Do you really expect anyone to believe that you didn’t contact our lads before you sent this?"

But Warburton defended the way his club had gone about securing Stanley's star men on four-year deals.

"We’ve acted within the letter of the law. It is what it is. What goes around comes around," the former Brentford boss said.

"It happens many times in different situations to many people. The club have acted perfectly responsibly and appropriately in the situation.

"It’s about going about our business in what we feel is the right way. Everyone has an opinion in football - that’s the beauty of the game - but we’re comfortable with the fact we hope we acted in the right manner.

"We have followed due process and procedure and that’s the end result. We’ve dealt with it the right way. We’ve got the result we wanted and the players wanted and we hope they fight for the play-offs and have a good season at Accrington."

Former Burnley sporting director Frank McParland is now working with Warburton at Rangers, and he played a key role in taking the Stanley stars to Ibrox.

Reports last week suggested the Gers could make a £400,000 offer to sign Windass and Crooks in this transfer window, but that is something Warburton has played down.

He expects them to remain at the Wham Stadium this season and hopes they can help lead the Reds to promotion before heading to Glasgow.

"It’s good business for us and highlights the quality of Frank McParland in moving early," said Warburton.

"We have two good young assets, value for the club, who I hope will have a big future here. Not every signing goes right but we’re very very comfortable they’ll come and do a good job for us.

"They are Accrington players till the end of the season. We will not move to bring them here before then.

"I’m sure they will do their very best for Accrington, which is the very right thing for them to do, and I’m sure they will be looked after as well."

Stanley remain in seventh place despite seeing yet another home game postponed on Saturday, as their clash with Notts County fell foul of the weather.

John Coleman's side now have at least two games in hand on all of the teams above them in the league, and they have four in hand on fifth-placed Bristol Rovers.

But the Reds could face a fixture pile-up towards the end of the season, although all of their games that have been postponed have been home fixtures.

They haven't played a match at the Wham Stadium since November 14, with their last six fixtures all away from home.

They are due to host Portsmouth at home this Saturday (November 16).