Paul Hartley will ignore the hysteria surrounding Rangers reaching the UEFA Cup final to concentrate on pipping the Gers to the SPL title.Rangers secured their first European final appearance in 36 years with a penalty shoot-out win over Fiorentina in Florence on Thursday night.

To add to an already congested fixture list, the Govan club will meet Zenit St Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14.

There is no respite for Walter Smith's men who play Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday, 24 hours after the Hoops get the chance to go eight points clear at the top of the table with a win at Motherwell.

Hartley, mindful of the three games in hand Rangers have over the champions, said: "I don't know if Rangers reaching the final will have any effect on the championship.

"It's another extra game for them but we have to concentrate on what we do.

"We have another tough fixture against Motherwell and we can only concentrate on ourselves.

"Motherwell are battling with Hibs and Dundee United for a UEFA Cup place so we know it will be tough.

"Obviously you look to other teams to do you favours because of the games in hand that Rangers have over us.

"But we know we have to win the next three games to stand any chance of retaining the title.

"So we have to make sure we are on our game against Motherwell."

The Scotland midfielder has no fears about playing again on the infamously poor Fir Park pitch following a 4-1 victory there only three weeks ago.

He said: "Some of the pitches in the SPL this season has not been great but you just have to get on with it.

"We are not going to make any excuses about the pitch, we never have done.

"It's just how you cope with the conditions and hopefully we can cope again."

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