Rangers transfers: Russell Martin reveals timeline for 'exciting' new arrivals plus updates on Cyriel Dessers and John Souttar

Martin will begin his tenure against the Greek side in the second qualiyfing round of Uefa's elite competition with the first leg at Ibrox on Tuesday, July 22 following by the return in Athens a week later.

The former MK Dons, Swansea, Southampton boss hopes to hit the ground running and expects his cause to be helped by new arrivals ahead of the European showdown.

Asked by Sky Sports how many ins and outs he is anticipating this summer, Martin said: "I honestly don't know but I think we'll have a few [in] before the European game, that'll be for sure. Everyone is working extremely hard. The bulk of work over the past week or so has been identifying character and talent that we want in the building that can add to this group and add to us culturally and in terms of performance. I'm excited about the people we're starting to look at, and hopefully will add."

Martin expects striker Cyriel Dessers to report back for the start of pre-season training on Monday despite reports linking last season's Scottish Premiership top scorer with a move to AEK Athens.

"The updates will come as and when they are actually real," Martin said. "At the minute, I'm expecting hom to return on Monday and I'm looking forward to working with him."

The Rangers boss also confirmed that defender John Souttar will be fit to face Panathaniakos after delaying surgery on a hernia issue until after the Scotland international friendlies.

"It's really difficult," he explained. "John wants to play for his country. I think so many players at the end of the season get lambasted for not going away or pulling out of the international games for whatever reason. John made a decision that he had a bit of a minor injury, he wanted to go and play, he is desperate to play for his country, which I admire. So the plan was, everyone here was aware of it, to get sorted after that. He's had a minor op and we expect him to be fit for the Pananthaikos game so it hasn't really affected the preparation. He's been able to go away and play, and be ready for us."

Panathinaikos represent a tough draw for Rangers but Martin is relishing the challenge against last season’s Greek Super League runners-up.

“It's incredibly exciting," he added. "I think it's going to be an amazing atmopshere at Ibrox. People have said to me it's maybe the most difficult tie we could have got but if we want to compete in Europe we're going to have to beat some really good teams. We will be ready for it. We know what we're working towards now, so we can have a good look at them. But the work is going to be about us, and making sure in the next three to four weeks, that the players understand what it's going to take, and they're open to learning and be ready to put in a performance that we can be proud of."

Martin's first domestic game will be away to Motherwell at Fir Park on the opening day of the William Hill Premiership season with his first Old Firm clash taking place on matchday four when Celtic visit Ibrox.

"We expected it to be early, it usually is," he said of the derby fixture. "But we have a lot of games to focus on and a lot of work to do before then. Of course, they are exciting and special games, but we have games before that and every game is going to be important."