Smith welcomes pressure

Walter Smith is welcoming the extra pressure after Rangers’ unbeaten start to their UEFA Champions League campaign.

The Scottish champions head into Tuesday night’s clash in Valencia sitting second in Group C, with five points from their opening three games.

This form is in stark contrast to last season when Smith’s side crashed out of the competition with no wins to their name.

The Rangers boss believes the pressure is on both his side and the Spanish outfit, who sit a point behind, but he is relishing the situation.

He said: “There is no doubt there is pressure on us to get a result tomorrow night, it’s not just Valencia who want to do well in the tournament.

“We have started well and we welcome the extra pressure that’s on us at the present moment.

“To see if we can try to remain in the tournament after Christmas is a pressure that’s welcome.

“Last season, we were never in this position and we are quite pleased to be in it at the moment.”
Still favourites

After an opening game victory over Bursaspor, Valencia lost to Manchester United and then drew at Ibrox.

But Smith believes the Spanish side are still favourites to progress from Group C – along with the Red Devils – despite losing players such as David Villa in the last transfer window.

He added: “Valencia would have started as anyone’s favourite at the start of the campaign.

“Manchester United and Valencia were the two favoured teams to remain in the Champions League. I still think that’s the case.

“You mention Valencia’s last two results but when you lose the players they lost in the close-season, it always takes a bit of time to find your feet.

“They did so exceptionally well in the early part but there were always going to be one or two problems.

“For the last few seasons, David Villa has been their top goalscorer and, when there was a little bit of a problem, he would do something special to win a game.

“Maybe in the last couple of games they haven’t had that but overall they are still an extremely strong team and still the favoured team to go through in this competition.”