ian1964 10,409 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 RANGERS manager Walter Smith has expressed his delight at guiding the club through to the last 16 stage of the UEFA Cup and praised Nacho Novo after the Spaniard's goal in Athens proved decisive. Nacho NovoNacho admitted himself that he should have found the net on a couple of occasions at Ibrox in the first-leg but made up for that with a clinical finish on 80 minutes to give his side an aggregate win. His workrate throughout the game was tremendous and Smith always felt that he would take his chance when it came along. He said: "It was good to see Nacho score as he deserved it for the effort he puts in. "I know he was disappointed after the first-leg but he showed great composure with his finish tonight. "He is always there to get a goal and that showed that again tonight. He has now scored some very important ones for us this season." The gaffer was frustrated at the goal his side conceded in what was a disappointing first-half performance but Rangers fighting spirit was again evident as they battled back in the second-half. He said: "I thought we made it difficult for ourselves tonight. "Panathinaikos were perhaps the better side early on and we were disappointed with the goal we conceded. "They opened up a bit the second-half and we managed to get level at a good time in the match. "We didn't create that many clear cut chances but we put them under a bit of pressure and eventually that paid off. Nacho Novo scores"It was a good move that led to our goal and we had a few of them in the second-half. "But we knew the game was going to be tight tonight as it was in Glasgow. "That proved to be the case but we had players sitting on the bench that could go on and make a difference. "We have now scored a few goals on our travels in Europe this season so we were always confident that chances would come our way." Rangers now face Werder Bremen in the last 16 stage on March 6 and 12 and Smith is looking forward to facing the impressive Germans. "We face a bit of a fixture pile-up in the months ahead but it is great that we have progressed further in the UEFA Cup. "The players are delighted and we have to remember that we had eight unavailable from our squad tonight. "So from that point of view I am very happy for the boys tonight and everyone can now look forward to the next round." 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribz 743 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 It certainly does make the fixture list even more congested. But Werder Bremen will be a great tie. We've still got to play Hibs in the cup replay and if we win that there is Partick to fit in. Plus being in the league cup final means another league game being postponed. We're going to have sat/sun & wed/thur games right up until April. WS must utilise the squad now and give the likes of Gow, Buffel, Lennon, Fleck, Furman etc games. Surely he should change things for Gretna on Sunday. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wija 0 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Maybe WS should look at how poor we were for 70 minutes, then we came to light when it was all changed around. We cannot continue with 4-1-4-1 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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