PEDRO Caixinha is convinced Rangers will be able to compete for the Scottish title next season despite the demoralising defeats they have suffered to Celtic in their last two games - if he is able to bring in his signing targets during the summer.

Caixinha’s side slumped to a record 5-1 loss to their city rivals – they had never conceded five goals to the Parkhead club at home before - in a Ladbrokes Premiership match at Ibrox last Saturday.

That result came just six days after a one-sided 2-0 reverse to Brendan Rodgers’s side in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden had ended their hopes of winning a major honour in the 2016/17 campaign.

Celtic, who wrapped up their sixth consecutive victory in the Ladbrokes Premiership last weekend, are currently 36 points clear of Rangers in the top flight table and Rodgers is hoping to strengthen further in the close season.

However, Caixinha, who only replaced Mark Warburton as manager back in March, has been undeterred by recent results and is optimistic his team will be able to halt their Glasgow opponents’ run of league triumphs.

The Portuguese coach, who will tell his squad which players he wants to retain following the game against Partick Thistle tomorrow, has identified international players who he believes will enable Rangers to challenge Celtic next term.

“How many years have Celtic still to go (to win 10-In-A-Row)?” he said. “Well, we still have four years, right? We hope next year that we can do it, but it’s not a question of trying to stop Celtic. For us, it’s about getting that mentality and desire and that will to win.

“I am happy for us to be compared against Celtic. We want to be compared with Celtic. That’s fine. It’s totally fine. Scottish football is about Rangers and Celtic and I’m not going to run away from that fight or war or whatever. I like it. We know where they are, we know where we want to be and we need to work to get there.

“We can challenge Celtic next season. If we bring in these players we have targeted then we can challenge. I’m not going to say the things that the fans want to hear, I only say things that I feel and that I’m confident about saying. I want to be realistic. If we get in the right core of players then things will be different for sure. We can compete and to compete at this club is to compete to win.

“It’s about bringing in players who are at international level, with international experience, players which this club is used to having in the recent past. That is what we are bringing next season. We also have Scottish players in our core. If they are coming for the first time then they don’t know what Rangers is about.”

Caixinha, who revealed that he met with Dave King when the Rangers chairman made a flying visit to Glasgow last week, stressed that he will have money to spend in the coming months despite the ongoing financial issues which the Ibrox club are experiencing.

Asked if he would have funds to carry out surgery to the squad he inherited, he said: “I’m being supported 100 per cent. We are doing the things in order to get the core of the players playing that I presented. We have been doing things from almost the past month.

"It’s about producing a core list to the board and saying that this is going to be my core team. We know that we have the core of the team to be here next season. It is on our mind. The board knows, the board agrees and we are working on it.

“Everything is organised according to the realistic situation at the club. I know how far I can go and that’s what I am doing. It’s got nothing to do with numbers. I don’t care if it’s less or more than my predecessor.”