Romanov meets his match in Laszlo

"Csaba has stood up to t he owner a bit and shown no fears in that respect," observed Smith. "They have had a good season and he has got them back on track again."

Smith also appears to have found a disciple of his own footballing ethos in the shape of Laszlo, who this week defended the kind of pragmatic tactical approach the Rangers manager has become renowned for.

Laszlo, who takes Hearts to Ibrox this afternoon, has kept his team on course for European qualification this season with a style of football seldom pleasing on the eye but regularly effective.

Smith feels the Hearts manager has quickly grasped the reality of life in the SPL where a lack of resources means winning ugly takes precedence over attractive football.

"The beautiful game would need to be played by beautiful players," said Smith. "Would I be right in saying that? It is a difficult environment to play that kind of football when, financially, you can't afford to get the best players.

"We are in a situation where we are constantly told our league isn't good, but we are expected to play a type of game that you really need to be in a far better league to play.

"When you go into any job as a manager, you have to make an overall assessment of what you have got, what your team is going to be and what you can manage to get as you go on.

"Csaba has done that very well. He has made an assessment of how his team should play and they have been steady. Hearts have set out their stall very well this season."

Smith has spent much of this week brooding over last Sunday's extra-time defeat to Celtic in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final at Hampden but has rejected claims he was guilty of an overly cautious approach in the match.

"Saying that is a trend from last season," he said, "but I don't think it can be levelled at us for last Sunday. The two Old Firm teams know each other very well at the moment and Celtic made a change last week, going towards five players in midfield, albeit with a slightly freer role for Aiden McGeady.

"There wasn't much between the teams. Lack of concentration at a set play, not for the first time this season, cost us dearly. That is what changed the game.

"Losing the match is the biggest bugbear, the criticism which comes with it is just something you expect. We were getting criticised last season when we were winning games, so we are used to that.

"If you win an Old Firm game, you are great. If you lose it, then you are the worst team ever. Your whole team gets torn apart through analysis. It is difficult to tread that middle line, so that it doesn't have too great an effect on your team overall.

"Losing a cup final is extremely disappointing, but if you allow it to go on and effect the rest of your season, then it becomes an even worse defeat. So we can't allow that to happen.

"We now have to make up a bit of ground on Celtic in the league and we have to show a determination to do that. I think the character of our team has been good, that hasn't been one of our deficiencies. Losing goals from set pieces has been. It happened when we lost 2-1 at Tynecastle earlier this season, so we have to rectify that for this game."

Rangers will have to do so without the suspended David Weir, while Madjid Bougherra and Kirk Broadfoot both have calf injuries which make them doubtful starters. With Andy Webster currently sidelined by injury once again, Smith may have to rely on a makeshift central defence of Christian Dailly and Lee McCulloch.

"We will give Madjid and Kirk every opportunity to make it," said Smith, "but currently they are both struggling."

Regardless of the personnel available to him, Smith will recognise that a victory which would take his team above Celtic at the top of the table on goal difference ahead of the champions' trip to Dundee United on Sunday is crucial to their prospects in the title race.

"There will almost certainly be disappointments for both teams on the run-in," he said. "To win it, it may well take the type of run Celtic produced last season when they won their last seven games. Both clubs will be looking to do something like that."

Taken from the Scotsman