Walter Smith never imagined Rangers would be challenging for four titles by mid-March - but he is desperate to fill the Ibrox trophy cabinet.Smith, who insists goalkeeper Allan McGregor can now be fairly compared with Rangers legend Andy Goram, is seeing shades of his great team of the 1990s in the current squad but remains guarded about their potential while they remain without a trophy.

Rangers will tackle Dundee United in Sunday's CIS Insurance Cup final on the back of their UEFA Cup triumph over German giants Werder Bremen.

And as the first silverware of his second spell in charge at Ibrox beckons, Smith wants his players to prove they are big-stage performers when it matters most.

"We were out of the League Cup, out of the Scottish Cup, and trailing Celtic by a lot of points when I arrived a year ago," said Smith, "so this is the first opportunity we get to show that we've had an upturn in terms of results and consistency.

"But you've come to the time of the season where you have to show you can turn that into trophies and this is the first opportunity we get.

"It's one we're all looking forward to."

Sunday's final will be the latest, but far from the last, titanic battle Rangers are involved in this season.

It has been a hectic week, with the team flying back to Glasgow from Germany early this morning before training at Murray Park in the afternoon.

But Smith is confident his players will be able to comfortably switch their attention from European matters to the challenge posed by United.

"I think we'll have a few weeks like that, hopefully, before the end of the season," said Smith.

"When you get down to it, it doesn't matter what's gone before.

"We've worked hard enough to get to a final. Once you're in there your focus is on the final.

"You just want to win on the day. It's how we play on the day, how we handle the situation.

"From our point of view we obviously hope we can (handle it).

"Tomorrow I'm sure everybody's focus will be fully on the League Cup final."

Smith began Rangers' revival in the second half of last season. After succeeding Paul Le Guen in January 2007 he instilled a stronger spine to the team by bringing in players such as David Weir, arguably his most shrewd signing, and Kevin Thomson.

But this season could be one of unprecedented success, with the UEFA Cup, League Cup, Scottish Cup and SPL titles all there to be won.

Smith admits: "I don't think I would have expected that at this stage of the season this year.

"We're certainly pleased that's the case.

"It's a pleasant surprise that we're in this position."

McGregor's magnificent display at the Weserstadion on Thursday night ensured Rangers kept Werder Bremen down to just one goal in Germany, to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Smith admitted McGregor's display will live long in the memory but insists it was not the first time this season the 26-year-old's contribution has been priceless.

"You have a situation where we defended very well and any time that we didn't our goalkeeper answered the call," Smith said.

"He turned in a tremendous performance, and I suppose when you look it's not very often you see a goalkeeper make as many saves, and important saves, in one match.

"So it'll go down as one that we'll all remember."

Goram ranks among Rangers' all-time greats, but Smith sees McGregor proving himself to be every bit as dependable.

"I hope so. We certainly hope that's the case," said Smith.

"Andy was an exceptional goalkeeper. It was Allan's first real season last season and I thought he got a bit of benefit from that.

"He gained in confidence because he's been

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