Nacho Novo insists Rangers must cope without Barry Ferguson and Carlos Cuellar in their Champions League qualifier against FBK Kaunas - because the pair deserve to play in the group stages.

Cuellar joined Ferguson on Walter Smith's injury list on Saturday when he aggravated a calf injury during a 2-1 friendly win over Raith Rovers.

The Spanish defender, who was voted player of the year by Scotland's football writers, is out of Wednesday's second qualifying round clash against the Lithuanians at Ibrox but could return for the away leg the following week.

Ferguson will be out for around three months of the season after undergoing ankle surgery.

Cuellar was instrumental in Rangers' run to the UEFA Cup final last season, when they conceded just two goals in eight knockout games on their way to the Manchester defeat by Zenit St Petersburg.

Ferguson missed only a handful of games last season, and although his ankle was proving problematic for the second part of the season, his influence became clear in his absence.

Rangers were two down at Hearts before Ferguson came off the bench in the only Clydesdale Bank Premier League game their skipper did not start.

They struggled for creativity in a goalless draw against Fiorentina in the sole European game he missed and drew with Partick and St Johnstone, before winning on penalties, in some of the domestic cup games he was rested for.

Novo knows they cannot afford to struggle without him and his compatriot Cuellar against Kaunas, with the lucrative Champions League stages to play for.

But the former Dundee striker will try to use their absence as motivation to get over the first of two potential obstacles, rather than a hindrance.

"Carlos was player of the year last season so, of course, he is going to be a big loss for us," Novo told the Evening Times.

"And everybody knows Barry is so important to us as well, so it is difficult to go into such a vital game without two of our best players.

"But there are a lot of good players here and it is a chance for someone else to play and show that they are good enough.

"We can win it for them because they are two great players and they deserve the chance to play against the best players in the world in the group stage."

Ferguson and Cuellar join Steven Smith, DaMarcus Beasley, Chris Burke and Steven Naismith on the sidelines, while Lee McCulloch and Kevin Thomson missed the Starks Park win.

However, Thomson trained on Monday as he bids to overcome a slight knee knock while McCulloch is expected to shrug off a throat infection.

Cuellar and Ferguson, who is still on crutches and has his left leg in plaster, watched their team-mates being put through their paces on the newly-laid Ibrox turf.

Smith confirmed Thomson and McCulloch were winning their fight to play on Wednesday.

"They trained this morning and they've got a chance of being fit for the game," the Rangers manager said.

"As long as there is no reaction from them, they should be in the squad.

"In Lee's case, I don't think there will be any problem as he has had a throat infection and that shouldn't affect him too much.

"Kevin took a little knock on his knee in training last Friday but is back in training again and he should be all right."

The Ibrox boss is less sure whether Cuellar will return for the away leg.

The former Osasuna defender was making his first appearance of pre-season in Kirkcaldy after being troubled by a calf problem, and suffered another strain in a different section of the muscle.

"I think there is perhaps a little bit of fatigue there and a hangover from the number of games he played last season," Smith told Rangers World.

"We can put the injury down to that. I would hope Carlos may yet be fit for the second leg in Kaunas but we need to give him an opportunity to let the problem clear up.

"We thought he was perfectly okay as he had a week of training under his belt and that was the strange thing about Saturday."

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