Smith warns Old Firm rivals

Smith: Challenged rivals

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Rangers boss Walter Smith has laid down the gauntlet to those sides outside the Old Firm who believe they can win the SPL title this season.

Hibernian are currently sitting a close third in the table and some of their players recently went public with their belief that the Easter Road outfit can finish second this season, ahead of either Rangers or Celtic.

Kilmarnock boss Jim Jefferies then went a step further by predicting a team outside the Old Firm could win the title if a lack of finances for quality players continues to be an issue for the Glasgow giants.

But Smith, whose side are unbeaten in the SPL this season, has warned any potential rivals that they must show consistency to achieve success.

His comments come ahead of Gers' game at fourth-placed Dundee United on Sunday, which is being shown live on Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports HD3 at 12.45pm.

Smith, whose side have drawn four times in the SPL so far, said: "We have had too many draws this season and, if those had been wins, it would obviously be far easier for us.

"A lot of people will be looking on that as an indication that the Old Firm are beginning to struggle. If we are down a little bit, fair enough. But we have always shown a good reaction to that.

"If the clubs now think they can come and win a championship or split the Old Firm, that's good for Scottish football as long as the challenge is accepted in the proper manner by the rest of the teams.

Pressure

"It's them who are saying it so a little bit of pressure is on them to show the

consistency which is required to win a league championship. If they can do that, fine.

"Everybody is talking about it now and I'm saying to them they've got to show it now.

"If they feel Rangers and Celtic are in a position where they are vulnerable then they have to start to show the consistency levels the Old Firm have shown over the years because it is never easy.

"They have to handle the same pressure which is always on Rangers and Celtic and I look forward to seeing whether that can be the case. If it is the case, it's good for Scottish football."

He added: "What I'm saying is that you can't turn round and make quotes in newspapers about feeling as though you are going to do this and do that against the Old Firm and not accept a level of responsibility.

"If they're saying they can do that, fine. We will see whether that challenge can be met over the season. We don't know if that will happen.

Work hard

"It's like asking if we are going to win the weekend's games. We don't know. We have to work hard to do it.

"It will be the same for the rest of the teams in Scotland. If they want to get between Rangers and Celtic - or if they want to win the championship - then they have to take the pressure that Rangers and Celtic handle every week.

"That's something they've got to show they can handle. If it does happen, it's great, it means the standard of Scottish football below Rangers and Celtic is rising - even though we may feel we have dropped down a little bit."

Smith is no stranger to title success, masterminding Rangers' 'nine in a row' campaign in the 1990s in his first spell at the Ibrox helm, before claiming the silverware again last term.

But he says such success does not come easily, insisting: "I always felt it was difficult. I don't adhere to this situation that you win a league championship and it's easy.

"When you are in that position, it's not an easy thing to do.

"If it was easy to win a championship then other teams in Scotland would have had a far better go at it than they have maybe had in the last 20 years or so. It's not easy."