Walter Smith: weary Rangers could face Scottish Cup upset

Pensive: Smith (right) and assistant Ally McCoist

The Rangers players were bearing emotional scars more than physical knocks when they arrived back from Aberdeen by coach this lunchtime, after defeat to the Dons ended their SPL championship hopes.

Gordon Chisholm's Queens players have had a relatively leisurely build-up, and the cup underdogs were even afforded a break in Marbella after the Irn-Bru First Division season ended on April 26.

Smith said: "They've had no games over almost a month since they finished, so they could have played a few of ours maybe and alleviated a bit of the problem!

"I think Gordon will be sitting there thinking that Rangers have played a lot of matches.

"If you're going to get to a cup final you couldn't wish for better circumstances, playing a team who played less than 48 hours beforehand.

"That might be a boost for them, but we have to overcome that as we've tried to do in all the games we've played."

By lunchtime on the eve of the match the Rangers boss had still to start his planning in earnest, but he pointed to Queens' 4-3 win over Aberdeen in a memorable semi-final as evidence of the attack-minded tactics Rangers should encounter this afternoon.

Smith rejected suggestions Queens could look to absorb Rangers' pressure before
trying to sneak a goal.

"I think they showed against Aberdeen they don't play like that," he said.

"I don't think they'll be a team that will come and sit back and wait for Rangers to try to score a goal. I don't think that'll be the way the final will be played.

"They showed in the semi-final they were prepared to get forward at every opportunity."

The Rangers coaching staff, including Smith and assistant boss Ally McCoist, were planning an evening tactics discussion to devise a game plan.

Smith admitted: "That'll be the first chance we've had really to get involved in the cup final.

"We've had a couple of disappointments in the last 10 days and you don't want to finish on that.

"This gives us the opportunity to maybe finish on a high note after the lows of the past 10 days."

Rangers are understandably jaded as they approach their 68th and final match of the season, but Smith wants one last big effort and insists his players must show they can find a performance for the Hampden showdown.

"There will have to be," said Smith. "It's the Scottish Cup final, it's a big game. There'll have to be something left there if we're going to do well in it."

Despite the sober feeling at the club, Smith remains "proud" of Rangers' performance across all competitions this season and a cup double still beckons, after their victory over Dundee United in March's CIS Insurance Cup final.

"If we had said that we were going to be competing in the final day of all the tournaments we play in, you accept that," Smith said.

"That's more than anything we would have expected towards the end of the season."

He added: "How trying has it been? It's not been trying. It's been an enjoyable season, apart from the last week.

"Since we came in January (2007), it's probably been one of the best periods I've had as a manager, considering what we had to turn around and what we had to do."

But Smith admitted: "You always look for something tangible. You always feel the failure - you can't hide away from that, you can't run away from that.

"If you get yourself into a position where you can win the UEFA Cup and you don't, then you feel as though you'd have been better getting knocked out in the early rounds.

"If you get yourself into a position to win the league and you don't, you feel as though you've failed. That's the way it is."