Smith was proud of his players after the victory at Ibrox

"It's a tremendous start but we had to work extremely hard for it," Smith said after the 2-1 win at Ibrox.

"Stuttgart showed their quality early on but we got more comfortable as the game went on.

"The players fought really hard after going a goal behind. I can't speak highly enough about the effort from every one of them."

Interview: Rangers manager Walter Smith

Interview: Rangers captain Barry Ferguson

Interview: Rangers defender Alan Hutton

A great strike from Charlie Adam and a penalty from Jean Claude Darcheville saw Rangers triumph after going behind early in the second half.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Give your reaction to the result at Ibrox

And with Barcelona beating Lyon 3-0, Rangers sit in second spot in Group E.

"We don't have a lot of players with Champions League experience and we started a bit slowly," added Smith.

"It's a new team and we are trying to build character. We had a test at Tynecastle on Saturday and failed but we came through tonight."

Rangers are off to France in a fortnight and Smith is looking forward to it.

"Any points you get in the Champions League have to be worked hard for and this will give us confidence for the rest of the campaign.

"We are in an extremely tough section and we will have to play at a very high level to achieve anything."