Rangers manager Walter Smith insists his players will be focused Smith joy over shoot-out victory ...
Cricket: SA outclass Bangladesh ...
Beatles engineer Smith dies at 85 ... on their quadruple challenge, despite the club's failure to ease their schedule.

Wednesday's visit of Motherwell is the first of seven games in 18 days as they look to add the Uefa Cup, SPL title and Scottish Cup to their CIS Cup success.

"It is a huge challenge, what we have in front of us," said Smith.

"The games are not being played in a span of time that we would like but it's an exciting challenge."

Rangers must entertain Dundee United on Saturday before playing Zenit St Petersburg in the Uefa Cup final on 14 May.

Smith hit out at the SPL after Sunday's 0-0 draw with Hibs when news emerged that Zenit will not play between their semi-final and next Wednesday's Manchester showpiece.

But the former Scotland boss is now concentrating solely on the club's hectic schedule.

"Players remove themselves from all that," added Smith. "Normally I would do too, but I just felt it wasn't right at this stage.

"But players themselves are here to play and I am here to manage the team, whenever we are told to play. That's what we'll do.

"For us, it's just a matter of making sure we get our focus back.

"These are the first home league games for a while, so we will look forward to maybe getting a couple of results that we need."

Smith expects a thorough test against Motherwell as he aims to close in on SPL leaders Celtic.

The Ibrox side trail by seven points but have three games in hand on their Old Firm rivals.

"All the clubs in the top six, are now involved in a fight for a European place, so there is something to play for for all the teams," said Smith.

"Mark McGhee has made a terrific impression on Motherwell, not only an upturn in results but also their mentality.

"So we know we are going to get a really tough game. Games against them this season have been hard, we expect nothing less again.

"We know now we have to win the majority of our league games as well, they are all important games."

(BBC)

<< Back