PSV are tough, but not unbeatable, says Ibrox boss Walter Smith

Not a bit of it. For the Silver Fox, Rangers' wily manager Walter Smith, yesterday sounded an emphatic and heartfelt admonition that Eindhoven will be a different creature at Ibrox.

As Smith said: "You have to factor the away goal into everything you are thinking about, and it showed in Eindhoven when they did not fully commit everybody forward.

"PSV have shown enough to make us realise that we have got to watch out for them on the break. Their wide players are exceptionally quick, and the warnings are there for us. They are a decent team, and it'll take everything we've got for us to get through.

"A nil-nil at home was a decent result for them to move on and try to get an away result. We'll just have to approach the game in the right way.

"It's about finding the right balance between attacking and defending and that will be difficult, but we will have to attack if we want to make progress."

The manager's view was echoed by David Healy, who watched the first leg from the bench. Healy said: "Rangers have proved over the past few years when we have had good runs in Europe that sometimes nil-nil at home is not always a bad result. They will be confident they can come to Ibrox and maybe get an away goal. We know it will be hard, but we are confident that we can score and get the victory that will put us into the next round."

• Mccoist 'to appeal'

It helps that Rangers have been over the ground before, most notably in the run to the UEFA Cup final in 2008.

Smith said: "Where we need to improve is where we have always needed to improve, which is to turn a good defensive system into an attacking one. We have never really had to dwell on that because we have been playing away from home second in European League games, so this is a change for us, but we do have experience and hopefully we can make it count."

A scoring draw is all that is required of Eindhoven, however, and it is still a big ask of Rangers to ensure that Thursday's encounter is not Smith's last European match in charge. Which leads neatly to the question - is Smith's impending departure preying on his mind and that of his men?

"I don't think it matters, and I don't think it affects us," said the manager. "We're out of the Scottish Cup but we're still in all the other competitions, including the League Cup final, and if we win our two games in hand we will go top of the league.It's not about me leaving, it's about Rangers handling a very difficult season for the club both on and off the pitch. For us to be in the position that we are, well I may a bit biased but with the problems we have had, and with five loan players in the team, to get themselves into the position where they can win a league championship, the League Cup and still be in Europe at this stage of the season, I think it's been ignored just how hard we have worked." Which begs another question: If two or three trophies are won, in the circumstances he has outlined, will this have been Smith's best-ever season? "I'll tell you if we do it," was the enigmatic reply.

As to the future, more loan players and short-term signings is likely to be the way forward, suggested Smith, and Healy, the 31-year-old Northern Ireland striker, hopes to be one of those signings - he came from Sunderland on a free transfer to the summer - whose stay is extended.

Lifelong Rangers fan Healy said: "I would love to stay here. Everybody knows that. I've said it since the day I came.

"It's at the back of your mind that the better I do, the more chance I have of staying here. There's a few of the lads who are in the same boat, who are out of contract in the summer, and we are all looking to impress when given the chance. But I'm not looking towards the summer, I'm just taking each game as it comes at the moment."

Healy hopes to figure against Kilmarnock at Ibrox today as Rangers seek to close the gap on Celtic while the league leaders are on Scottish Cup duty. As Healy said: "The league's in our hands."