Smith said he was not vexed by Mowbray's criticism of his tactics

Rangers manager Walter Smith insists he has no problem with Tony Mowbray - despite the former Celtic boss accusing his side of playing negative football.

Mowbray made the comments following Wednesday's defeat by St Mirren and was sacked by Celtic 24 hours later.

"I just look at teams across Europe that win leagues: normally the teams that win the leagues lose the fewest goals and score more," Smith said.

Rangers, who face Hearts on Saturday, are 10 points clear in the title race.

Mowbray made the comments following the 4-0 defeat by St Mirren, a reverse which ended their faint title hopes.

"Rangers have been very consistent - they haven't lost four goals in any game," he said afterwards.

"They set up differently - maybe that's the way to go.

"Maybe it isn't a league for trying to force the game and be expansive - maybe it is a league for playing defensive, negative football and having quality up front to counter-attack."

But Smith, whose side have two games in hand over Celtic as they look to defend their SPL title, said: "Tony made those comments, I don't take any offence at them at all."

And on his side's tactics, Smith added: "I would see that as a straightforward manager's job to try to achieve a good balance between attacking and defending."

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