Alexander hopes to take the number one jersey from McGregor

The 29-year-old goalkeeper has arrived as back-up to international colleague Allan McGregor at Ibrox.

"I'm well aware of what is at stake," he said. "But, when Rangers come knocking at your door, you don't turn things like that down.

"It's a fantastic chance for me and my family to come back up and it was too good an opportunity to turn down."

McGregor has established himself as first-choice goalkeeper since Smith's return to Rangers 12 months ago, but Alexander is prepared to battle for the gloves.

"As far as Scotland goes, I know the manager will want goalkeepers who are playing first-team football, so hopefully I can do well enough and we will see where it goes from there," said former Cardiff City goalkeeper Alexander.

Steven Davis is a player our chief scout, Ewan Chester, knows well through his time at Fulham and we are delighted to get him in Rangers manager Walter Smith

"Allan is a fantastic goalkeeper and I am well aware of his capabilities. I have confidence in my own ability and know what I can do."

Sunderland's Darren Ward and Grzegorz Szamotulski at Dundee United had also been on Rangers manager Walter Smith's radar before he turned to Alexander.

Versatile veteran Christian Dailly and Fulham midfielder Steven Davis were the others who arrived at Ibrox during the January transfer window.

Right-back Alan Hutton was sold to Tottenham for �9m, while goalkeeper Roy Carroll and defender Ugo Ehiogu also headed out.

And Smith said: "I had to make a few changes. We had a big squad of players and one or two left so we had to bring one or two in. We're practically back to where we started.

"The question is are we good enough or are we not? That's going to be answered once we start to get into this busy spell again."

The major disappointment of the January sales for Smith was the failure to capture Italian striker Andrea Caracciolo in a deadline-busting deal on Thursday night.

But the 26-year-old instead signed for Serie B outfit Brescia.

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"I had been at a game in London when he played for Palermo against West Ham a couple of seasons ago," said Smith. "He scored a goal that night and I thought he played very well.

"I've followed him since and I've tried on a couple of occasions before to get him, but he achieved a huge transfer from Palermo to Sampdoria in the summer.

"He hasn't been getting a game because they signed three or four other strikers, as Italian clubs do, so we thought during this transfer window we would try to sign him.

"But, naturally, a few Italian clubs were interested in him as well, so we have been a little bit disappointed it didn't happen. But we get on with it now."

Of Davis, Smith said: "Kevin Thomson is out for another month and it was one area of the field where we felt we needed to try to get someone in.