Walter Smith hails 0-0 draw in Eindhoven

IT would be an exaggeration to call it a gush-fest, but Walter Smith spoke about his team with real admiration in the wake of an improbable, but wholly laudable, survival job at the Philips Stadion.

Heading off any disparaging talk of his stifling tactics, the Rangers manager saluted the honesty and work ethic of his patched-up side, a team that was missing upwards of half a dozen first-team players in Eindhoven.

"I'm proud of the way my team plays," said Smith. "People can criticise the way we play, but not many teams have our circumstances and expectations, with all the background problems that we have had at the club. We've got five on-loan players, but this team just keeps going, and I think it is a terrific effort."

Smith isn't one to single out players, but he mentioned a few in passing, most notably the loan players, Kyle Bartley and Richard Foster who put in big defensive shifts. Foster, in particular, worked his socks

off. He had the unenviable task of trying to get a grip of one of PSV's more dynamic players, the left-sided midfielder, Balazs Dzsudzsak, and just about managed it.

"The boys we have on loan have been excellent," said Smith. "The manner in which they've integrated has been great. I don't know how many other teams have five on loan. Foster did very well and Bartley has been a big plus for us." The tie is still very much in the balance, though. Fred Rutten, the PSV manager, was left frustrated by all the chances his players wasted, but he wasn't all that downbeat. Perhaps he was comforted by the thought of Rangers having to commit a little more to attack in the second leg than they did last night, a change in emphasis that might allow his own creative players greater scope to score a precious away goal. That fact was not lost on Smith. "We had one or two bits of luck but we also had a great chance ourselves and we forced the best save of the game from their goalkeeper. I stress that when the game opens up at Rangers and both teams have to go for it, PSV are a dangerous team. We'll have to do more attacking and it'll come down to whichever team makes the most of their opportunities. They'll feel that 0-0 is not the worst result. We had that situation ourselves in Europe, 0-0 at home in the first leg and then you go away from home and if you can get a goal it's a huge advantage. They can be equally dangerous, if not more so, at Ibrox."

Smith didn't have a whole lot to say about the two-match touchline ban handed down to Ally McCoist for his part in the fracas with Neil Lennon in the Old Firm match last week. Beyond saying that he was "disappointed that the whole thing happened" he didn't offer much of an opinion. He wasn't going to be drawn on the SFA charge against El-Hadji Diouf and Madjid Bougherra either. You wouldn't blame the Rangers manager for being fed up with the whole business. It must seem to him that there is no escape from this tortuous saga. Last night would have brightened his mood, though. There was a real danger of a heavy beating here, but not for the first time in away ties in Europe, Rangers emerged unscathed.