Man Utd boss Ferguson hails Walter Smith's Rangers
Champions League Venue: Ibrox Date: Wednesday 24 November Kick-off: 1945 GMT Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website, live on BBC Radio 5 live and Radio Scotland. Live on ITV 1
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Ferguson seeks Manchester United consistency up front
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to Walter Smith's achievements as Rangers manager ahead of their Champions League match.
The two Scotsmen line up against each other for the second time in the season in Europe at Ibrox on Wednesday.
And Ferguson said his friend and former colleague deserves the plaudits.
"The resources at his disposal have been scant to say the least, but he has almost achieved a miracle in winning three titles on the trot," he said.
"Wherever Walter goes, his experience is important.
"That has proved itself in the work he has done here in his second spell, with no money at all."
The two teams ground out a 0-0 stalemate at Old Trafford in September and another draw would secure United's passage into the last 16.
Rangers however may have to win both of their remaining Group C matches in order to qualify for the knock-out stages.
Rangers are without defenders Madjid Bougherra and Andy Webster, while midfielder Maurice Edu and strikers James Beattie and Nikica Jelavic are all still missing. Smith might also have to do without Sasa Papac, prompting him to admit that he might have to abandon his usual 5-4-1 European formation in favour of a more attacking approach.
But despite Rangers' weakened squad, Ferguson sounded a cautious tone as to his team's chances of victory in the city of his birth and where he earned a living as a young man in the Govan shipyards.
"It is an interesting situation and one we have to treat pretty seriously," he added.
"It is all right saying we only need one point, but if Rangers win we then have to beat Valencia, so hopefully we can continue our form away from home in the Champions League."
In his bid to secure the point needed, Ferguson is likely to hand Wayne Rooney a first start since the 2-2 draw against Bolton in September.
"We have been changing the strikers quite a lot recently and I have to accept responsibility for changing it too much," he admitted.
"Now we are going to have a more consistent look about our team. We have a lot of good young options but hopefully we can get Wayne Rooney back to his best and Dimitar [Berbatov] is suited to playing with Wayne."
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