Mark Warburton’s side drew their first game in Barton’s absence 0-0 at Ibrox.
Right-back James Tavernier has told the Scottish Sun he thought Rangers’ midfield worked “really well” without Joey Barton.
Barton missed Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Ross County after being exiled by manager Mark Warburton following a training ground disagreement.
The controversial midfielder confirmed to Talksport last week that words had been exchanged between himself and teammate Andy Halliday, but maintained he had done nothing to apologise for.
According to a separate report in the Scottish Sun, Barton – whose absence prompted Rangers to deploy both Halliday and Jason Holt beside Josh Windass – may be given one last chance to salvage his Ibrox career.
However, Tavernier implied the team has enough resources to cope should the 34-year-old fail to return.
“Holty was out of the team with an ankle injury earlier this season but those three in midfield worked really well,” he said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“When Niko Kranjcar came on, it shows we have players to make a difference.
“We created a lot of chances through the midfield and it was a good start to the game. But we are disappointed.”
Despite failing to recover from the previous weekend’s 5-1 defeat to Celtic, Warburton later told the BBC their draw with the Staggies represented his side’s best 90 minutes of the campaign.
The result saw the Light Blues drop to fourth in the Premiership standings, by virtue of St. Johnstone’s 1-0 win against Hearts.
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