Walter Smith praises Rangers players despite financial cloud

Walter Smith used the eve of Manchester United's visit to Ibrox in the Champions League to heap praise on his Rangers players. Off-field troubles have dogged the club despite Rangers claiming back-to-back Scottish Premier League titles. Tight monetary restrictions remain, with Smith unable to bring in players during the January transfer window. "They [the players] have taken a bit of criticism along the way for the way that they have played – and that was maybe justified a lot of the time in terms of not being so pleasing on the eye – but nobody can dispute their determination to play for this club," Smith said. "And that has seen them through a whole lot of games. "It has also seen them through a whole lot of financial difficulties. They have played so well that everyone is forgetting that we are in the midst of financial turmoil. It is to the players' credit that they have managed to make people forget all about that." Smith said he derived extra pleasure from Rangers' defensive display at Old Trafford in September when the Scots held their hosts to a scoreless draw. "When you look at the number of teams that go there and get a draw, that makes it satisfying," Smith said. "United's standards are incredibly high. I keep reading just now that they are not playing terribly well, but I don't think they've lost a game. I think April last season was their last loss. So you are looking at a team that is turning in an exceptional level of performance. "By their own standards they might not be playing as well as they have done in recent seasons, but nobody has beaten them. So that is to their credit, given the standards they have set over that period." Smith denied that the prospect of putting one over his old friend Sir Alex Ferguson, possibly for the final time, will be an extra motivator tomorrow evening. The pair's relationship stems from their respective periods at Dundee United and Aberdeen. "That's not a factor," the Rangers manager insisted. "It's not a factor for me and I don't think it's a factor for him either. The factor is, like everywhere else, you want your team to win. It's got nothing to do with managers or anything like that. You just want to win the games. He is the greatest, and tomorrow night's result won't change that." Rangers' preferred 5-4-1 Champions League template will be altered through force rather than choice, the defender Sasa Papac having failed to recover from concussion. Even at this early juncture of the season, Smith's squad is in danger of being depleted. "We've run out of defenders, so it will obviously mean a change for us," the manager said. "That formation has obviously been good in terms of achieving better results in the tournament. So it is a bit of a blow to us, having to change it at this stage. "But I've always said, we'd need a wee bit of luck, both to get through our domestic campaign and our Champions League campaign, in avoiding injury and suspension, so we've been a bit unlucky losing three from our defensive options. We just have to get on with it, and hope that we don't get any more."