McDowall to call on 'master' Smith

Rangers caretaker manager Kenny McDowall will continue tapping into the wisdom of former mentor Walter Smith ahead of the Hampden clash with Celtic - but he knows his advice will be simple.

"Just win the game'' was what Smith said to his players ahead of Old Firm derbies and the straightforward approach often proved successful, sometimes thanks to smash-and-grab wins as they homed in on nine titles in a row.

After Ally McCoist was placed on garden leave, McDowall has been catapulted into a leading role in one of the most eagerly-anticipated games in recent Scottish football history as the blue and green halves of Glasgow prepare to meet again following a near three-year hiatus.

McDowall is happy to shoulder the burden though and will follow Smith's advice to tell his players they need to win the QTS Scottish League Cup semi-final for their fans any way they can.

The former Celtic reserve-team coach said: "I'm just trying to stay as focused on the game as I can and keep the pressure away from the players. And use what I've learned from the people that I've worked with and hopefully on the day we will get a bit of luck.

"Walter Smith is the master on this one - he used to say just win the game and that's what I've to try and do.

"I will speak to him before Sunday. I've spoken to him a few times. I'm laughing because Walter will tell me just go and win the game. He knows what it means to so many people - that's just fact.''

Unlike Celtic boss Ronny Deila, McDowall had no need to play down the prospect of a thumping win for his team as the four semi-final managers met the media at Hampden.

With Rangers 13 points behind Scottish Championship leaders Hearts and Celtic finding form, little is expected of the Ibrox men.

But McDowall does not want to send his players out into the intensity of a Glasgow derby with an inferiority complex.

"You've got to show your opponents a bit of respect but not too much,'' he said.

"The fact it's a semi-final, we would like to think we've got a chance. The players know they are 90 minutes away from a cup final.

"We appreciate we are underdogs and rightly so but come Sunday we will be looking to get ourselves into a cup final.

"We are under no illusion, Celtic are a good team and it's going to be a difficult, difficult game. We'll need to play well and have Lady Luck on our side.''

McDowall knows victory would give everyone at Ibrox and the supporters a much-needed lift after three years of financial turmoil and boardroom power struggles.

But even the resumption of rivalries with Celtic has failed to knock the off-field issues off the front and back pages in the final week of the build-up.

McDowall is keen to avoid the ongoing controversy over the club's finances and ownership but he was this week tasked with telling former player Nacho Novo that he was no longer allowed to train with the squad ahead of a move abroad.

Novo hit out at the club directors and accused them of banning him from Murray Park because he had given his backing to the Rangers First group of fan shareholders.

McDowall said: "Nacho understood my decision. I was only passing on instructions. We just move on.''

The club later denied that Novo's backing for Rangers First was behind the decision.

A statement read: "At no time was Nacho instructed to leave Murray Park due to him joining a Rangers supporters' group.

"The club had permitted Nacho and Peter Lovenkrands to train at Murray Park for a number of weeks in the lead up to the Fernando Ricksen tribute match to allow them to get match fit.

"We would like to wish Nacho all the very best for the upcoming season and thank both him and Peter for taking part in Sunday's tribute match for Fernando.''