Walter Smith insists Rangers' primary objective remains the Scottish Premier League title despite securing progression to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.

Nacho Novo's vital late goal against Panathinaikos in Athens saw Rangers overcome the Greek giants on away goals after the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium.

But despite the inevitable excitement, Smith stated that the SPL title - a crown they have not won since the 2004/05 double-winning campaign - is still the silverware the club wants the most.

"We started the season with the Scottish title our main objective and that's still the case," said Smith, whose team are in the CIS Cup final, the Scottish Cup and are sitting pretty four points clear at the SPL summit.

"The team are doing exceptionally well to keep us in the hunt in the four competitions.

"We just have to keep concentrating on what we're doing have been doing and keep doing it game by game because it is obviously working for us.

"We want to stay in all the competitions for as long as possible."

"Things are going well for us and I am delighted with the effort the boys are putting in.

"Every time they go out on the pitch they are giving their all. We are a team very much together at the moment."

Smith conceded Rangers were second best for most of the match after Panathinaikos centre back Ioannis Goumas' wonder goal finally broke the deadlock in the tie after 12 minutes.

But Smith, who turns 60 on Sunday, revealed he always felt his team were still in with a chance in the tie.

"I think Panathinaikos were the better side in the first half," he said. "They were sharper than us, passed the ball around really well and created a few chances.

"We improved in the second half though after a dodgy spell at the start and then as the game went on I felt that we would get something.

"We were always in the tie at 1-0 down.

"Our keeper Alan McGregor made some good saves in the first half but as the game went on I felt that it was turning in our favour and that proved to be the case."

Gers huffed and puffed but struggled to create any attacking moves of quality with what little possession the Ibrox side did have.

However, the tie was always delicately balanced at 1-0 on aggregate and it took Novo's opportunist strike to grab the crucial goal.

"I'm really pleased for him," Smith said. "He took a lot of criticism after missing chances in the first leg but he always keeps going.

"Our best chances seem to have fallen to him in both matches and I'm happy that he got the goal.

"He deserves it for the hard work he puts in and for getting into the positions he does."

The Spaniard, who has picked up the useful habit of scoring vital goals for Rangers in Europe, was delighted with the result.

"We wanted to qualify for the next round badly and we are very happy to have achieved that in Athens," said the former Raith Rovers front man, whose 81st-minute goal was his 10th for the club in European competition.

Rangers will play Bremen in the first leg on March 6, and although their fans may be dreaming about a potential second European trophy - their only success on the continent to date being the 1972 Cup Winners Cup - Novo said it was far too early to be talking of a potential UEFA Cup triumph.

"There's still a very long way to go and we can't talk about winning the UEFA Cup yet," he added.

"It's great for me to be able to thank the fans for making this trip and supporting us. They have travelled very far and have paid a lot of money to come to this match."

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