Smith fear over Rangers squad depth

Rangers manager Walter Smith fears suspensions and injuries could turn their season into a struggle.

Smith has lost five players this summer after key pair Kris Boyd and Kevin Thomson departed to Middlesbrough with Stevie Smith, DaMarcus Beasley and Nacho Novo also moving on.

The 62-year-old, who is entering what he insists will be his last season as a manager, saw a bid to buy his first player for more than two years fail last week when Burnley winger Chris Eagles rejected an Ibrox move. And the Rangers manager is increasingly concerned about the depth of his squad as he bids to win a third successive Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.

"Injuries and suspensions are what worry me right now and more than ever before," said Smith ahead of his squad's pre-season tour of Australia. "In fact, they are what worry me most.

"We still have a strong base of a team and if one or two more could be added that would be great. You have to factor in the European football and the matches some of the boys will be playing with their national sides in the first part of the season.

"I can only hope that doesn't take its toll."