Rangers snubbed Unirea friendly

WALTER SMITH is glad he turned down a pre-season friendly against Unirea Urziceni - as it would have given Dan Petrescu an early look at his hand.

The Romanians were over here three months ago and faced Morton, Ayr, Celtic and Plymouth but Rangers snubbed a request for a game at Murray Park as they couldn't find the time.

From the Ibrox club's point of view that might have made collating information on the eastern Europeans a little bit easier.

But such is the availability of information these days that Smith, right, feels he's now well up to speed on their strengths and weaknesses.

He said: "It's a challenge to go up against an unknown quantity in terms of preparation. Obviously for Sevilla and Stuttgart I have a knowledge of them from watching Spanish and German football on a weekly basis, so I know basically what they are.

"With Unirea we were starting from scratch once the draw was made. But nowadays with the availability of information about teams and access to matches it's easier.

"We have every one of their games this season on DVD and the boys have worked hard to get up to speed on them.

"The boys have also been in touch with Paul Sturrock to ask him about Plymouth's game. We turned down a game against them in the summer. They asked if they could come and play us at Murray Park but we couldn't fit it into our schedule.

"That's maybe fortunate now that we have been drawn against them in the Champions League."

Unirea are very much the mystery men of the group - although their public profile has been boosted by the appointment of a national hero like former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu as club manager.

And the Rangers boss knows how much the former Stamford Bridge hero would love to take his scalp.

Smith added: "I met him at the coaches forum in Geneva in September and we had a chat about the draw there. He said to me he enjoyed his time playing in Britain and since he's gone back to Romania he's made a good start to his managerial career, that's part of the interest of the game.

"These back to back fixtures are important ones for both clubs. People looking from the outside have said that Sevilla would be the favourites for our group and after that Stuttgart with the investment they had during the summer.

"As it turns out both of us have had draws with Stuttgart and lost to Sevilla so these back to back fixtures become vitally important for both clubs. We've had them watched four or five times and I've watched them a couple of times myself on DVD. They are a good side.

"Against Stuttgart they took a wee blow losing an early goal but they didn't let it affect them and over the 90 minutes they were a little bit unfortunate not to get the win.

"At home they have overcome bigger and better- known clubs in Romania to win their national championship.

"And I think they see the Champions League as a platform to raise their own club's profile.

"I think their season will be about how they fare in the Champions League as much as anything."

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