Smith urges Rangers to conjure one final effort

A LITTLE less than 42 hours after suffering their second crushing disappointment in the space of nine days, Rangers must drag their aching hearts and weary bones to Hampden this afternoon for the small matter of their 49th Scottish Cup final.

Having been deprived of the normal sense of anticipation and build-up which precedes the traditional finale to the season, Walter Smith's players face an unprecedented challenge to readjust their focus and lift their spirits for the showdown with a fresh and eager Queen of the South side.

If the immediacy of the occasion ensures Rangers simply cannot afford to dwell on Thursday night's defeat at Aberdeen and loss of the SPL title race they led for so long, adding to the woe of their Uefa Cup final loss the previous Wednesday, Smith admitted yesterday that he is uncertain how they will cope psychologically with the task ahead.

The veteran manager, who won the Scottish Cup three times during his first spell in charge at Ibrox, believes his players deserve to finish as winners at Hampden but concedes their record-breaking 68-match campaign will always be regarded as less than fulfilling even if they do add the Scottish Cup to the CIS Cup already in their trophy room.

"Two trophies would make it a successful season, when you consider where we started," said Smith. "But it is a season that will always be tinged with disappointment, we can't get away from that. Winning the Scottish Cup would be a great thing for us and I hope, for the boys' sake, that they do that. I hope we can get ourselves up for the game.

"I'm not quite sure how we go about this now. From memory, I don't think anybody could share the experience with you. I don't think anybody has had to go into a cup final less than 48 hours after any game, never mind such a big one, and it's definitely a new experience for us.

"We'll just have to go along our usual route of trying to get everyone up and lifted again. It's different from any cup final I've been involved in. Maybe that is the thing that will give us a lift, the fact that it's so unusual. It gives us an opportunity to finish the season on a high after a couple of real disappointments over the last eight or nine days."

Today is Rangers' eighth match in the last 21 days, a punishing and controversial schedule which has clearly taken its toll on many of their most influential players at the most crucial stage of the season. Smith believes his squad have not been troubled physically by the demands made of them but admits they have simply been unable to maintain the necessary level of mental strength to see their much-vaunted quest for the 'quadruple' through to a successful conclusion.

"There is no doubt that, physically, they've handled the thing well," he said, "but we've struggled a wee bit mentally with a lack of sharpness. We've now shown a bit of frailty there. We'll have to adjust to that for the final but it's not easy, trying to give anybody a lift, especially after the last eight or nine days.

"You can't hide the fact that there have been two huge disappointments. Nothing takes away from the disappointment or the feeling of failure. As a manager, I couldn't have asked any more of them over the season. They've worked manfully to keep everything going and I'm proud of what they've done this season.

"The way they've played, the way they've handled themselves and applied themselves, they can be proud of themselves. It's the first time I can remember any team being involved on the last day in all four tournaments we were in, allowing for the twist of the Champions League turning into the Uefa Cup. It's a measure of how well we've done over the season. We've just not managed to handle the vital part of it, which is the end part, the Uefa Cup final and then the last couple of weeks of the SPL season. We've dropped points after the big European games.

"I've no doubt that, if we had been knocked out in the early part of the Uefa Cup run or had even failed to qualify through the Champions League, it would have enhanced our chances of winning the championship.

"The worst thing is that, although we've made progress as a team, we had an opportunity to win both the Uefa Cup and the league. I think a whole set of circumstances we could never have imagined have gone against us, making it more difficult than it would have been in a normal season.

"This season will stay in the memory for a lot of reasons and there have been a lot of highs but, on a personal basis, I'm inclined to remember my disappointments more. That helps spur you on all the time." Smith will again make changes to his side this afternoon with Sasa Papac ready to return in defence after recovering from a thigh strain. Nacho Novo misses out through suspension, just as he did for the CIS Cup final in March, as a result of his crass challenge on Stuart Duff at Pittodrie which earned him a straight red card. "Nacho is just the type of boy who gets so wound up and he obviously has to temper that," said Smith. "He can have no complaints about missing the final."

DaMarcus Beasley is under consideration for a starting place as Smith looks to freshen up his attack against a Queen of the South side idle from competitive action since their First Division campaign concluded four weeks ago.

"We've got plenty of information on Queen of the South," said Smith. "From Gordon Chisholm's point of view, he would much rather have had one or two games to keep them going but they won't be short of match practice, having arranged a few games against other clubs. It's an interesting factor in this final, actually, the fact that they've not had any games for four weeks now, while we've had all of these matches crammed into such a short period."