Walter Smith already had an embarrassment of riches in midfield and now that Barry Ferguson has returned to the scene, things are to become very crowded at Ibrox. Yet the Rangers manager insisted yesterday that he wants to keep everyone on board.

Ferguson will probably make his first appearance of the season today at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League after missing five months, having had surgery on an ankle injury. His status as captain of Rangers and Scotland may give him some help in securing a place but the Ibrox landscape has changed a good deal since the player last pulled on the blue shirt.

The arrival of Pedro Mendes from Portsmouth has captured the imagination of the Rangers fans and the Portugal player is an unlikely choice to spend time on the bench given that Smith spent £3 million on him in August. Steven Davis has also made a starting place his own since turning a loan move from Fulham last term into a permanent deal, again for £3 million, with impressive contributions in Ferguson’s absence.

Kyle Lafferty, another summer signing, cost £3.8 million from Burnley and has had to make do with a place wide on the left of midfield, rather than the striking role he is used to with Northern Ireland, just to get a game for his new club. And the glut of midfield players has given rise to speculation that Kevin Thomson could be prised away in the January transfer window by his former manager at Hibernian, Tony Mowbray, who has funds available at West Bromwich Albion in the Barclays Premier League.

“Whether teams come in for players or not, we have two months before the next transfer window opens up,” Smith said yesterday. “I want Kevin Thomson here. It is hard to fit everyone in because we do not have as many games as in other seasons, but hopefully next season we will have more matches by being in Europe.

“The midfield was an area that I wanted to improve after last season, to increase the level of possession, and we have given ourselves a problem. I’m looking forward to see how all the players gel.”

Rangers have succumbed to financial pressure to sell prize assets in the last two windows, with Alan Hutton moving to Tottenham Hotspur for £9 million and Carlos Cuéllar to Aston Villa for £7.5 million. However, going out of Europe to FBK Kaunas prompted a spending spree on Mendes and Davis, along with Maurice Edu.

Smith doubts that Mendes and Ferguson will tread on each other’s toes. “They are both good footballers and both have the capability to play further forward, or drop deeper,” the manager said. “I have no fears about them complementing each other. And Kevin comes into that category, too.”

Rangers face five games in the next fortnight, with Dundee United visiting Ibrox on Tuesday, then games with Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Mirren, an itinerary that shapes Smith’s thinking about using Ferguson sparingly. “It is good to have Barry back and we’re certainly thinking about starting him against Inverness,” the manager said. “He is ready to come back but we have five games in the next couple of weeks, so there are plenty of opportunities to get him involved.

“When someone is coming back from injury after a long time, asking them to play on Saturday, Tuesday then Saturday is not a good thing. Barry needs to get back to match fitness and it is a matter of how best we go about doing that.”

Lee McCulloch, Steven Whittaker and Chris Burke are three more midfield players desperate to get back into the first team after recovering from injury. “Some of our players are needing more matches to get up to the proper level of fitness, but, just like Barry, there are plenty of chances for the likes of Whittaker and McCulloch to come in again,” Smith said.

Lafferty seized his chance by scoring in the midweek Co-operative Insurance Cup defeat of Hamilton Academical. “Kyle has had three injuries since he came here but hopefully he will now settle and I can see the best of him,” Smith said. “He has played most of his football for us, and Burnley, down the left but I still see him as a striker and I would like to see him gain more experience in that role because that is where he operates for Northern Ireland. However, just now he will have to switch between the two positions.”

Smith’s counterpart today, Craig Brewster, would love to have that sort of problem. The Thistle manager was forced recently to hand a debut to Garry Wood, a striker, against Celtic because his principal forwards were injured. However, the 20-year-old, who scored eight times on loan at Montrose last season, rose to the challenge and scored against the champions.

“I thought Inverness might have a problem after losing one or two influential players over the last year but they have recovered from that,” Smith said. “They have become an almost permanent fixture in the Premier League and that is a terrific transformation for a club who were promoted.

“I think Inverness are the template for a lot of clubs in Scotland. It is very well-run. They have had changes of manager but the structure stays in place. They are a very dangerous side away from home, are hard to break down and have great team spirit.”