Source: Team_Talk
Pressure so great on Gers - Smith
The Scottish champions thought they had secured a crucial victory in Bucharest that would have resurrected their campaign when Lee McCulloch netted with only 11 minutes to go.[LNB]But Rangers were denied their first win of the tournament when substitute Marius Onofras levelled for the Romanians two minutes from time.[LNB]Rangers remain bottom of Group G and now face massive games against Stuttgart at Ibrox and a trip to Sevilla with their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages now hanging by a thread.[LNB]Smith - who refused to comment on crowd trouble involving Rangers fans at half-time - said: "The pressure is on us to win our games, that's what we have to do.[LNB]"I don't think there is any other way forward for us. That's what makes it so disappointing to lose a late goal.[LNB]"At least we acquitted ourselves in a better manner than the first game, which was as poor a performance as we have had in Europe since I came back.[LNB]"We made up for that a little bit tonight."[LNB]A 4-1 defeat by Unirea at Ibrox a fortnight ago put a massive dent in Rangers' hopes ahead of this game and Smith was at least pleased to see a marked improvement from his players.[LNB]He said: "I don't think we had weak points tonight. Our weakest point was our overall performance in the last game, we didn't play well at all. But I think tonight we showed we can play better than we did do in Scotland."[LNB]But he admits Rangers have ultimately made life difficult for themselves by failing to see the game out.[LNB]He said: "We played very well tonight and after getting in the lead in the manner we did do and then to give it up so late in the game was very disappointing.[LNB]"It meant effectively, after getting ourselves back into the section in terms of qualification, we have made it even more difficult for us by giving away a bad goal in the last few minutes.[LNB]"When you are winning so late in the game you should make it more awkward for the opposition to score a goal and we didn't do that.[LNB]"We had various options at that time in the game and to run down the time was the thing to do. We didn't do that and it cost us dearly.[LNB]"It was a good game, both teams played well in spells and had opportunities to score. But getting in front means it's more disappointing for us to give a goal away in the last seconds."[LNB]One major positive as far as Smith was concerned was the performance of 17-year-old Danny Wilson, who made his Champions League debut tonight and produced an excellent performance in the heart of defence alongside David Weir.[LNB]He said: "I'm pleased with the way he has handled the situation since coming into the team, it's his third game and for a boy of 17 it speaks volumes for him that he has managed to handle it so well.[LNB]"Unirea have shown they are a very difficult team to play against and I must say that he handled himself well."[LNB]Despite snatching a late point, Unirea boss Dan Petrescu was unhappy at not taking all three points from a match he claims his side deserved to win.[LNB]He said: "It was a good game and it was a better game than the first one in Glasgow. In that game we had four chances and scored four goals.[LNB]"Tonight we created chances and their keeper made a lot of saves. I don't think the result was correct, we were the better team.[LNB]"Rangers did better than they did in the first game, they created chances and played some good football. But Unirea were the better team."[LNB]Asked about Rangers' hopes of qualifying now, he added: "They need at least four points but I think six would be better for them."[LNB][LNB] Champions League 2009/10 Win Outright: Rangers 750/1
