Smith did not look so pleased with the defeat by Portsmouth in a friendly

Rangers manager Walter Smith believes his side are better prepared for the start of this season than last despite having no money for new signings.

"I think the lads are ready," he said. "We are looking forward to getting started this season in comparison.

"Last year, there was a bit of trepidation after our exit from Europe.

"Our first SPL outing last year was also against Falkirk, away from home, but there is a freshness about our group in comparison to last year."

Rangers have sold former club captain Barry Ferguson to Birmingham and fellow midfielder Charlie Adam to Blackpool while shedding a number of other squad players to save money.

It has led to question marks about Rangers' ability to defend their league title, especially with deposed champions Celtic having been active in the summer transfer market.

But Smith is looking forward to the coming season in good heart and pointed out that Rangers were last year preparing to play the Bairns in the wake of their surprise Champions League defeat by Lithuanian side Kaunas.

It will be a special moment for the supporters when the flag goes up because they have not seen that for a few years Rangers manager Walter Smith

"We managed to scrape our way through that game as we did in a number of the early matches," he told Rangers News.

Smith remained coy about his choice of goalkeeper, with Neil Alexander having been in possession of the jersey as Rangers clinched a league and Scottish Cup double.

However, that came after Allan McGregor was disciplined along with Ferguson for misbehaviour while on Scotland duty.

And McGregor's pre-season appearances against Nuremberg, Arsenal and Portsmouth mean he could be back in the reckoning despite his indiscretions with the national team.

"We are in an excellent position in that we have two good goalkeepers, but it's always difficult for a manager to make the decision on who plays," said Smith.

"It is difficult in other areas of the field too because we have a number of players vying for positions.

"Both our boys have been excellent for us over the period they have been with us.

"Neil has come in towards the end of each of the last two seasons and has had to play in some very big matches and he has handled that situation.

"It's not easy to be sitting for a long spell and then get thrown in. So we are fortunate we have two goalkeepers and it's up to me to decide who plays."

Smith is intrigued to see how his players react to being champions having started the previous three campaigns as runners-up.

"It will be a special moment for the supporters when the flag goes up because they have not seen that for a few years," he said.

"It's always nice to start the season in that manner. However, this season will be a big change for our boys because, for the past two seasons, they have been challengers.

"Sometimes it is a little bit easier to be a challenger than it is to be a champion.

"There was an extra pressure on us in trying to win the championship last season and there will be that little bit of extra pressure on Celtic to win it back.

"Similarly, there will be an extra pressure on us to defend the title, so it's a big challenge for all of the boys because most of them haven't experienced that before."

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