Smith hails rampant Rangers

Walter Smith hailed his Rangers side as they continued their march towards the championship with a 2-0 win over Kimarnock at Rugby Park on Tuesday.

The runaway league leaders extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to 13 points over Celtic and have now played the same number of games as their rivals.

It means the Ibrox side need to win just six of their remaining ten games to clinch their second league title in a row.

It would be a remarkable achievement for a side whose off-field financial difficulties are well documented and have meant Smith has been unable to sign a player in two years while several others have been forced to leave the club.

Rangers now have two weeks away from league duty as they face Dundee United in the Scottish Cup quarter-final before contesting the League Cup final with St Mirren as Smith’s side chase a domestic treble.

And Smith, whose side are undefeated in 21 games and have been beaten just once domestically in a year, says his players deserve praise for their remarkable run and resilience.

“I think it is a fair achievement I have to say. For a team that doesn’t get a lot of credit for doing a lot of things their level of consistency in terms of results has been fantastic,” the Rangers boss said.

“I felt with players going away on international duty everywhere and then coming back to these games quite quickly I was a little bit concerned.

“I didn’t think we reached a great level on Saturday against St Mirren in comparison to the way we have been playing and certainly tonight in the first-half we didn’t either.

“We have two cup ties now which takes us out the league campaign for a little bit and from our own point of view I hope that gives us the opportunity to freshen up and get ready to start the remaining league games after the League Cup final.”

A scrappy first-half at Rugby Park was only memorable for several uncharacteristic errors from Rangers keeper Allan McGregor, who couldn’t seem to hold on to the ball.

The keeper has faced off-field pressures in recent weeks including an alleged assault after a night out in Glasgow but Smith reacted angrily when asked if he would speak to his keeper about his performance in Kilmarnock.

“I think he is doing alright for us. Why would I need to speak to him?” Smith said. “There was a couple of errors tonight but everyone makes an error. I don’t think we need to pick him out. There were far more players with more errors than him, especially in the first-half.”

Steven Whittaker settled the nerves of the visiting support when he rifled Rangers into the lead early in the second-half before Kenny Miller doubled their advantage minutes later.

It was Whittaker’s 11th goal of the season and his manager said he was delighted with his goal-scoring contributions from defence.

“He is doing very well in that respect considering most of them have come from full-back position,” Smith said.

“He’s two or three from wide on the left but the rest have been from full-back and it was a welcome one tonight.

“I think he has got a level of confidence now. He gets in there to have a go and they are good goals – he doesn’t score many poor ones.

“He had another one into the side netting not long after so he’s showing a good level of confidence in that respect at the present moment.

“The boys have been chipping in on a regular basis from other positions. As long as we get them that’s the main thing.

“I am delighted to see that the goals are being spread about.”

Whittaker was delighted with the goal but said he was more concerned about keeping clean sheets than scoring.

“Obviously the points and the results are the main thing but it is nice to chip in with goals,” the left-sided defender said.

“As a defender goals are not your target – you are more concerned about clean sheets. “But I am getting into positions and finishing them and long may that continue.”