Smith impressed by Rangers resolve

Rangers FC manager Walter Smith was "delighted" after his side's 1-0 win at FK Zeta last night set up a UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie against either FK Crvena Zvezda or FC Levadia Tallinn.

'Nervy'
DaMarcus Beasley got the only goal in Podgorica, his first for Rangers since signing from PSV Eindhoven, to complete a 3-0 aggregate win. "It was always going to be a nervy game but I thought we handled it very well," Smith said. "Zeta showed in the first game they could be dangerous if we allowed them to play and I think we managed to nullify any of the problems they caused us at Ibrox. They never really caused us any great problems, so I was delighted with that."

Delighted
Rangers will learn who they meet in the next round tonight when Crvena Zvezda face Levadia, with the Serbian champions 1-0 up from the first leg. Captain Barry Ferguson said his side face a stern test in the next round whoever advances. "We're just delighted to get through," he said. "It's a difficult place to come especially with the heat but I thought we adapted really well and controlled the game. Whoever we play in the next round will be difficult but the Champions League is the stage we all want to play on."

Good impression
Zeta coach Slobodan Halilović, while disappointed with the outcome, drew strength from two positive displays from his side. "We had hoped to repeat our performance from the first match when we caused Rangers a lot of problems, but they didn't allow us to do that because their marking was very good. We played slightly better in the second half, but not enough to pull off a surprise. Even so I don't think we deserved to lose and I'm sure we made a good impression in these two games against a European giant."