Rangers manager Walter Smith hopes to be able to write off last month's setback in Stuttgart as a blip after Wednesday's crucial Champions League clash with Lyon at Ibrox.

Smith's side were beaten 3-2 in Germany on November 27 but will qualify for the last 16 if they avoid defeat against Lyon, who are their rivals for second place in Group E.

They have benefited from a weekend without a game, after being allowed to postpone their match at Gretna, and have welcomed the Scottish Premier League's support for their European bid.

After the disappointment in Stuttgart, Smith wants to see his players pull out all the stops against the French champions, who they beat 3-0 earlier in the campaign.

He told the League Managers' Association website: "We have to make sure that the levels of concentration are as high as they possibly can be.

"Against Stuttgart they weren't and I don't know whether it was just because of the fact that we had a margin of error there or that it didn't matter if we won, lost or drew the game, as long as Lyon took a point [against Barcelona] we were always going to go to the last game anyway.

"So I don't whether that was the case because over the European campaign the attitude and levels of concentration have been terrific.

"The one thing that the Stuttgart game did show was that if we do slip a little bit then teams will definitely take advantage of that."

Smith realises that a shortage of experience at this level among his squad means they are still getting to grips with the competition.

He said: "The whole aspect of Champions League football is new to quite a lot of our players and that's the thing that we need to concentrate on as much as anything else.

"Maybe in some domestic matches you can afford to slip up and get away with it, (but) you can't get away with it at Champions League level, especially when it gets to such an important time of the qualification process."

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