Source: Team_Talk
Smith: Home front vital for Gers joy
So the Light Blues boss is in no mood to play for a draw when Champions League top seeds Sevilla visit Govan on Tuesday night.
Rangers fans have endured three largely uninspiring goalless stalemates in their most recent SPL encounters, against Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.
Such a scoreline is hardly unfamiliar to the Ibrox faithful - five of the last seven European matches at the stadium have passed without a goal.
However, all but one of those was a knockout match in which Smith favoured a cautious approach to avoid losing an away goal.
The former Scotland manager has warned Rangers have to pick up victories at Ibrox if they want to play more knockout matches in Europe this season.
Victory over Stuttgart and a draw at home to Barcelona in their previous Champions League campaign gave them hope of making the last 16 until a 3-0 defeat by French visitors Lyon.
So the Rangers boss insists victory is a realistic aim against a team that won the UEFA Cup in both 2006 and 2007.
Smith said: "If we have any thoughts of progressing to the final stages of the Champions League, or the Europa League, we have to take advantage of our home games.
"So it's a game we go into knowing the level of team we are against but hopeful we can get a win. We are always hopeful we can get a win at home.
"We had a disappointment in the last Champions League section a couple of seasons ago when we lost at home to Lyon, but we had decent results against Barcelona and Stuttgart, so we're looking to do well.
"I think that's an important factor for us that we've got a decent home record.
"The game against Lyon was one where both the teams had to win.
"Lyon got the opening breakthrough, so we had to chase the game, which allowed them to hit us on the breakaway.
"They got a couple of late goals near the end, so it was a disappointing result but the performance overall was a decent one."
While Rangers have already fallen four points behind Celtic in the SPL, their sole European outing this season was an undoubted success.
An accomplished second-half display in Stuttgart culminated in a point after Madjid Bougherra burst forward to equalise.
So Smith is hopeful his side can put their stuttering SPL form behind them.
"I don't think there's any doubt the best performance of the season was against Stuttgart," the 61-year-old said.
"While we might have struggled in our domestic situation to reach the form of last season, we have shown that we can reach that level in the Champions League, which was an awkward game at Stuttgart. The first game in the section is always awkward.
"So we go into the match in the knowledge that we will acquit ourselves better than we have done in the domestic matches so far."
The return of Pedro Mendes from suspension will add some much-needed creativity to the Rangers midfield but Steven Davis is still a doubt after missing the visit of Aberdeen through illness.
Left-back Sasa Papac was only scheduled for light jogging this afternoon as he bids to recover from a hamstring injury but his stand-in against the Dons, Steven Smith, is expected to overcome the hip injury that forced him off.
"We still have a doubt over Sasa Papac and Steven Davis," the Rangers manager said.
"They have been important players for us and we're looking forward to getting them both on the park."
