Smith: Unirea shock will drive us on for Stuttgart

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 08:40

WALTER SMITH believes Rangers must make amends for their shocking defeat by Unirea Urziceni when they play host to Stuttgart in the Champions League tonight.

The last Group G match at Ibrox proved to be a disaster for the Scottish champions as they crashed to a humiliating 4-1 home loss to little-known Romanians Unirea.

The result also put a major dent in their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament, meaning the clash with Stuttgart is now a must-win game if Rangers are to retain any hope of progressing to the last 16.

Back-to-back 4-1 defeats to Sevilla and Unirea at Ibrox do not make good reading so far and Smith is hoping for third time lucky in Glasgow against the Germans.

"Our home performances have been disappointing and we have to show a good reaction to that problem," he said. "That's the main thing from our own point of view. We have to show that the Unirea game, especially, was a blip on our own part. It was an exceptionally poor performance from us and we have to make up for that."

Erratic home form and better performances on the road so far means Smith is unsure what to expect from tonight's game, having earned a point in Stuttgart in their opening match.

"It's a strange one," he said.

"We've got a couple of points from two good performances away from home and we have had no points from our home games, which is an unusual circumstance for any team.

"It's been a strange Champions League campaign. After four games we find ourselves with two points but still in a situation where we have an opportunity to qualify or, at least, get into a situation where we have European football after Christmas.

"That must be what we aim for and hopefully we can do that."

Dropping into the Europa League by finishing third may be a more realistic option for Rangers.

Smith added: "We are just thinking about European football after Christmas and the results will determine where that will be. We just have to try to win the game. We've got no thoughts on whether it's continuing in the Champions League or whether it's in the Europa League."

Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann may be the oldest player in the Champions League at the age of 40 but even he is in awe of David Weir's ability to carry on playing in defence.

The Rangers centre-back Weir, at 39, is six months younger than Lehmann.

"I'm very impressed," Lehmann said. "The advantage of being a goalkeeper is that most of the time you only have to react.

"In his position he needs to chase young people, quick people. It's quite impressive, I have to ask him how he does it."