Fri May 16 17:08:15 2008

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Rangers ready to overcome UEFA Cup disappointment

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Motherwell, Scotland (Sports Network) - After failing to claim its first European title in 36 years with a 2-0 loss to Zenit St. Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday, Rangers will now set its sights on domestic domination when they return to league play on Saturday at Motherwell.

While a historic quadruple is no longer possible, Rangers can still sweep the domestic competitions by winning the league and Scottish Cup in the next week to go along with the CIS Insurance Cup already won by the team.

Walter Smith's side will play three games over the next six days in an effort to secure its first SPL title in three years. Gers trail Celtic by four points entering the final week, but Rangers still has two games in hand and will clinch the title with three straight wins.

Following the Motherwell game on Saturday, Rangers will visit bottom-half side St Mirren before finishing up the season at Aberdeen.

With three games this week, Smith knows that there is no time for his team to dwell on Wednesday's loss, and that they still have plenty to accomplish up the upcoming week.

"We know we have to get over the disappointment of Wednesday night and try to adjust to what is an end to a season that very few teams have had to overcome," Smith told the club's website. "We played four games in nine days recently and we know what we have to do. The stakes are high for us and we know we will need a tremendous reaction from all of the players if we are to achieve."

The club has gotten healthy in recent weeks with a number of players returning from injury, but they still must solve their goal-scoring problem.

Inverness finishes up its season at home to St Mirren on Saturday while Kilmarnock and Falkirk will also finish up seasons that see them in the bottom half of the standings.