Smith delight as depleted Rangers extend lead

Walter Smith praised his depleted Rangers squad after they extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Ibrox.

The Rangers manager could only name six substitutes on the bench for the visit of the Dons after his already threadbare squad was left even more stretched when Kyle Lafferty limped out of training on Friday with a foot knock.

The Northern Ireland man joined Sasa Papac, Maurice Edu, James Beattie, Nikica Jelavic and Andy Webster on the sidelines with on-loan Richard Foster ineligible to face Aberdeen.

It meant 21-year-old Andrew Little, who hasn’t featured in the SPL this season, as the most senior outfield player on a bench filled with under-21 players.

However after a win that puts his side four points clear of Celtic, who play St Mirren on Sunday, Smith said he was satisfied how his team handled themselves.

“We have got quite a few injuries not just to the more recognised first team squad but our younger group underneath have got one or two injuries as well,” the Gers manager said.

“That was us as we were against Aberdeen. Kyle Lafferty got injured in training on Friday so we were a little bit depleted but our group responded very well and I felt they played well.

“We were introducing one or two players and John Fleck came in and had a good game. So from our own point of view we’ve got to be pleased that we managed to handle it.”

Rangers now have a week off before facing Kilmarnock on Saturday and Manchester United in the Champions League the following midweek and Smith hopes time will be a big healer for his squad.

“We’ve got a week’s break just now and I hope some of the injuries will clear up a little bit,” the Rangers manager added.

“Kyle Lafferty’s injury for instance is just a knock on the foot and he should be fit for the next game. That kind of thing will fall into place.

“It’s just sometimes when they mount up it becomes a little bit of a problem. That was the problem for us against Aberdeen but we managed to handle it very well.”

Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot, who missed most of last season through injury, said the squad had enough experienced players to get them through their problems.

“The number of injuries maybe concerns the players who are injured as they want to be involved but the likes of myself and John Fleck who came in against Aberdeen are only happy to show what we can do.

“It gives the other players an opportunity to show they can step in and take their place.

“At a club like Rangers the demand is you need to win every game.

“I think we have big enough characters in the dressing room who can get us through this.

“We’ve got a lot of games just now and if we come through this with mostly wins I think we’ll be ok come the end of the season.”

At Ibrox, after their record 9-0 defeat from Celtic last weekend the signs looked ominous for the Dons when Kenny Miller’s 15th of the season and a Vladimir Weiss cannonball put Rangers 2-0 up with just over 30 minutes played.

However the Dons took encouragement when Jamie Langfield saved a Miller penalty minutes before the break and despite dominating the second period Rangers couldn’t add to their lead.

After watching Old Firm rivals slam nine past them last week Smith said he wasn’t surprised to see the Dons adopt a more defensive approach at Ibrox.

“If you are involved in a game like last week, whether it is the management or playing side, you are going to make sure that doesn’t happen again or a scoreline of a similar nature,” Smith said.

“Therefore the way the game went was unexpected. We expected Aberdeen to play in a manner that maybe we do ourselves in the European games so you are always pleased to get a break through from that point of view.”