Derek Riordan was wanted by a number of clubs

Hibs rejected two transfer deadline day offers from their SPL rivals for the Scotland international.

"We tried for him, you can only try your best, and we did that," said the Rangers manager.

"We did fancy him as regards to the rest of the season and beyond - so it's possible that we will look at it again in the future."

Rangers had in recent seasons raided Easter Road for striker Kenny Miller, defender Ian Murray and McLeish himself.

Old Firm rivals Celtic have also taken wing-back Didier Agathe and, this season, defender Gary Caldwell, who will move to Glasgow in the summer.

Money two or three years down the line is no good to me Hibernian manager Tony Mowbray

And Hibs were determined not to concede on this occasion, with Rangers falling �50,000 short of the �500,000 asking price.

Riordan, who could face Rangers in Saturday's Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at Ibrox, is out of contract in October.

And a summer move is a possibility, with the 23-year-old having rejected offers of a new Hibs deal.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get him, but we move on and I'm going into the second part of the season with a lot of players coming back from injuries and a reasonably strong squad," said McLeish.

Ibrox chairman David Murray had indicated an investment at the turn of the year could lead to new players in January.

But striker Kris Boyd, bought for �450,000 from Kilmarnock, proved to be the only capture last month.

"I'm frustrated along with the fans, the chairman is frustrated along with the fans and Martin Bain is frustrated along with the fans," said McLeish.

"We tried and it didn't happen, but it wasn't for the want of trying.

"We certainly did other things, other than going to the last day, but I guess that's something we will keep under wraps."

There are suggestions that Rangers could now move to secure Riordan, for whom Kaiserslautern also tabled a failed bid, on a pre-contract agreement.

Meanwhile, Hibs manager Tony Mowbray claims his club rejected Rangers' offer because they would have had to wait three years for the money.

"I have seen some of the figures that have been bandied around and, if we had waited two or three years, we might have got close to some of them," he said.

"But we weren't prepared to do that. Money two or three years down the line is no good to me."