Source: Team_Talk
Smith happy to face last-day nerves
Smith returned for a second spell in Govan in the wake of the disastrous Paul Le Guen era tasked with transforming the fortunes of a club which had fallen into disarray.
Now, two and a half years after agreeing to return to Rangers, he stands on the brink of leading them to Scottish Premier League glory for the first time in four years.
Asked what bringing the crown back to Ibrox would mean to him, he said: "It would be terrific, it's what I came back to Rangers to try to do. You miss that aspect of it.
"You all talk about it as being pressure or tension or nerves or whatever but, when you are a football manager, that's what you want.
"If we don't have that tension and we don't have the nerves and we're not in a position to win a championship, then we don't stay in a job very long.
"On a personal basis, I'm delighted we've got that opportunity. We had an opportunity last year but, due to a set of circumstances that were unusual in football, we missed out.
"We find ourselves back here a year later with another opportunity. In my mind, that's not pressure."
Smith knows nerves may be a factor among a squad with few players who have any experience of winning a title but he is confident all his players are focused on the job ahead.
He said: "The players have shown in the second half of the season a good level of form and we've got ourselves back into it by the fact that we've only lost one game since the Old Firm match in December.
"That's the reason we are in the position we are in at the present moment.
"There have been no thoughts on the players' minds other than getting into the position where we can win a championship.
"We are focused on what we have to do. When you have played all season to get to this situation, you would be really disappointed if you weren't."
Rangers fell at the final hurdle this time last year when a crippling fixture list eventually took its toll and they surrendered the championship to Celtic on the final day.
Smith said: "We were determined to win it last season as well.
We just didn't manage to handle a set of circumstances.
"Sometimes when you go through that disappointment and if you get an opportunity again quite quickly - which we have done - it can help you.
"It's something that can drive you on and I can see that in a lot of players here."
Meanwhile, Madjid Bougherra - cleared by the SFA to play in the game at Tannadice - believes Celtic face just as difficult a task as Rangers.
While Rangers travel to a Dundee United side looking for a point to guarantee European football, Celtic will host a Hearts side who have secured third place and effectively have nothing left to play for.
But Bougherra insisted: "For Celtic it will be the same as us because every team who plays Celtic or Rangers gives 100 per cent because they want to play on the big stage.
"For both teams, it will be difficult."
Bougherra's red card against Aberdeen last week was reduced to a yellow, allowing him to face United and he expects plenty of backing from his homeland.
He said: "This match is massive and all the Algerian people will be watching this game because they love to follow the player abroad.
"When you win something, it's like Algerian people win and that gives me more motivation."
