Smith does not blame SPL

Updated 09.37 Thu May 15 2008

Keywords: zenit st petersburg, uefa cup final, uefa cup, spl, walter smith, football, scottish premier league, sport

Rangers manager Walter Smith refused to blame the Scottish Premier League for the team's Uefa Cup final defeat.

The Russian club Zenit St Petersburg had enjoyed a two-week break before the final at the City of Manchester Stadium while Rangers are in the middle of a run of nine fixtures in 24 days.

"I don't think the thing with the SPL had an effect on the game" - Walter Smith

Zenit were allowed to postpone four of their fixtures but the Scottish Premier League refused to extend the season so Rangers were left with a fixture pile-up.

Zenit went on to win the match 2-0, scoring twice late in the match.

Smith said: "I don't think the thing with the SPL had an effect on the game. We would have liked to have cleared our heads a little bit but it didn't have an influence on the players, they were ready to play.

"We don't have any winter breaks in Britain, that was our 64th game this season, we have four more left so when you add that a lot of the players play at international level it's a lot of games but that's what the players have to do and it didn't affect the result tonight."

Rangers now face three away games in a week and they will be crowned Scottish Premier League champions if they win all of those fixtures.

They can also complete a domestic treble if they beat Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup final on May 24.