Rangers boss Smith counts on away goal after Ibrox stalemate

The SPL leaders were held to a goalless draw by their Portuguese visitors as a night of tension at Ibrox gave way to anti-climax.

Rangers barely made a scoring chance and will now be required to hit the net in Lisbon next Thursday if they are to keep dreams alive of reaching the May 14 Final in Manchester.

Scroll down for more

Smith will lose David Weir to suspension next week in the Jose Alvalade arena - where Sporting are unbeaten in the league this season - but he insisted an away goal could transform the tie.

"We have shown we can go away from home and score goals in Europe," said Smith. "Let's see if we can do so again next week and make the semi-finals.

"Over in Athens, against Panathinaikos, we managed to score to get through from this first-leg position and it is not only over there that we've scored away this season. We scored goals in Lyon and in Stuttgart, so we are capable of it."

Smith had absolutely no complaints about the 0-0 outcome, nor Weir's late yellow card from Russian referee Yuri Baskakov for pulling back Brazilian dangerman Liedson.

"We cannot argue about the result because we did not make too many clear-cut opportunities," said Smith. "There was a wee bit of frustration. We did not play as well as we have in recent games or in the European games at Ibrox - we would like to have tested their keeper more.

"But I had always thought it would be a very tight match and that's what happened. I felt that Sporting started the game better than us and they were the dominant side in the first 15 minutes. It was probably pretty even between the sides for a full hour and then, when we hoped to apply some pressure towards the end, Lisbon did well in the last 15 minutes, too.

"Some unforced errors gave us some anxious moments at various times over the course of the game."

Rangers will have Weir banned for the second leg in Lisbon but Christian Dailly can step into the side, with the 34-year-old vastly experienced at international level.

And Daniel Cousin should be fit to compete for a place after his broken jaw, with Smith knowing an away goal could make all the difference.

"I am disappointed to lose Weir over there but I could have no complaint about the yellow card," added Smith. "We will just have to face up to the fact we will not have Davie."

Sporting coach Paulo Bento warned his players not to start thinking about a last-four showdown with PSV Eindhoven or Fiorentina, who drew 1-1 in Italy last night.

"The objective was to win the match but Rangers were very strong in defence and solid," said Bento. "In Lisbon, we hope to be able to find the solution and score, but in many ways it is still 50-50 for both sides to make the semi-finals.

"Our final ball was not so good in the first half. We could have attacked more but we did better later on. Rangers play some direct football but we will learn from that. The result was better in Bolton because we drew 1-1 there but I felt, technically and tactically, we played better here than at the Reebok Stadium.

"But we must not get carried away with the result because nothing is decided as yet. We know if Rangers score we will need two goals but first we will aim to control the game next week and then see what happens."