Unirea Urziceni 1 - 1 Rangers: Walter Smith regrets Rangers' late lapse

WALTER Smith last night criticised his team's failure to close out victory in the 1-1 draw with Unirea Urziceni in Bucharest and admitted they now face an uphill task to take maximum points from their final two Group G games to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.

The Rangers manager watched in anguish as substitute Nacho Novo conceded possession cheaply to spark the counter attack which led to Marius Onofras scoring an 88th-minute equaliser for the Romanian champions nine minutes after Lee McCulloch had given the visitors the lead.

The result leaves Rangers at the bottom of Group G with just two points from their first four matches. A win over VfB Stuttgart at Ibrox on 24 November is now essential for Smith's team as it would take them above the German side and also give them a better head-to-head record against Markus Babbel's men.

Whether for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League or the last 32 of the Europa League, however, Rangers will travel to face group winners Sevilla, who drew 1-1 at home to Stuttgart last night, in need of something in their final game on 9 December.

"The pressure is on us to win both of our remaining games now in terms of the Champions League," said Smith. "That's what we have to do, there is no other way forward.

"I thought we played very well tonight, so after taking the lead in the manner we did, to give up the equaliser so late was disappointing for us. We effectively got back into contention in the group but then made it even more difficult for ourselves by giving away a bad goal in the last few minutes.

"We had various options at that time. If we had kept the ball in the corner and run the clock down, that would have been the right thing to do. But we didn't do it and it cost us dearly.

"At least we acquitted ourselves better than we did in the first game against Unirea at Ibrox, which was as poor a performance as we have had in Europe. We made up for that a little bit."

Smith singled out 17-year-old European debutant Danny Wilson for praise after the young central defender delivered an accomplished performance alongside veteran captain David Weir.

"I was pleased with the way Danny handled the situation," added Smith. "It was only his third game for us and for a boy of 17, it speaks volumes for him that he handled it so well. Unirea are a difficult team to play against but he handled himself very well."

Unirea coach Dan Petrescu believed only Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor stood between his team and what he felt would have been a deserved victory. The former Chelsea player has guided his team into second place in the group but is wary of the remaining challenge from both Stuttgart and Rangers.

"All three teams have a chance for second place in the group now," said Petrescu. "I think Rangers will need at least four points from their last two games to have a chance.

"It was a very good game tonight, it looked more like a Champions League game. It was a better game than the one in Glasgow where we had four shots and scored four goals. Tonight we created more chances and the Rangers goalkeeper was in good form.

"I don't think the result was correct. In my opinion, we had the better of the game."