Rangers manager Walter Smith has revealed loan signing Richard Foster could make his debut against Hamilton on Saturday.

Kirk Broadfoot and Steven Whittaker were both ruled out of Scotland’s midweek win over Liechtenstein after picking up injuries while on international duty.

Smith will find himself short of personnel for the right-back slot if they both fail to recover in time for the lunchtime clash at New Douglas Park.

That means Foster – who joined on loan from SPL rivals Aberdeen on transfer deadline day – could be thrown into the action quicker than expected.

Smith told www.rangers.co.uk: “Richard is a player who can offer us versatility.

“I felt we had enough cover up front so that allowed us to let Andrius Velicka go up to Aberdeen and get playing again which is the most important thing for him.

“Richard can cover for a good few positions which is ideal for everyone and we would hope that he can do a good job for us.

“He might be involved this weekend because we have knocks to Steven Whittaker and Kirk Broadfoot who both had to withdraw from the Scotland squad.

“So we will need to see how they are at the end of the week before we make any decisions but if neither of these players make it then there is an opportunity for Richard to get a start right away.”

Rangers boast a 100% record in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League so far but Smith admits his players are not yet at their best.

He said: “We have made a decent start to the SPL in the sense that we had recorded three wins and we are happy with that.

“However, I don’t think we are quite into our stride. We have made slow starts in two of the matches and that’s something I hope we can rectify.

“We are now entering an extremely busy stage of the season so we must make sure we hit the ground running, starting with Saturday’s game at Hamilton.

“Accies are a team that seem to make a few changes in the close season so it takes them a little bit of time to get started.

“We have found them difficult opponents in the last couple of seasons. We have had to work extremely hard to get wins against them.

“However, we want to maintain our winning start to the season and that’s the most important thing.”

The Rangers boss has urged his side to forget about Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Manchester United until the job is done against Accies.

He added: “We all know that the Manchester United game is on the horizon but we can’t look at that yet. We must be totally focused on the Hamilton game.

“There is no doubt that we are all looking forward to it and after a disappointing campaign last season the boys are keen to do much better.

“They have all had good experience in Europe in recent seasons and they want to do well.

“It’s going to be a difficult start for us playing at Old Trafford but it’s one we all look forward to.

“That said, it will be after Hamilton that we start to look at that one.”

Arsene Wenger believes that Arsenal’s win at Blackburn today has shown their title rivals they deserve respect.

The Arsenal manager said that teams which want to win the title must win at places like Blackburn to show they have ambition to do well in the league.

Wenger’s dislike of the home side’s physical approach is well known and he insisted his side had approached the game with concerns after a bruising battle in the equivalent fixture last season.

Wenger said: “We had a good start but in my opinion we were too nervous dealing with the game of Blackburn. Who would not be unsettled by the kind of game Blackburn gave us today?

If you have ambition in this league you have got to win at Blackburn.

Arsene Wenger

“Last year we had bad memories here and because we knew they would play the kind of game we don’t like we had not enough confidence to deal with that.

“In the second half I felt we were calmer. We put the ball well on the ground and controlled it better and it was just a question of time. We had the right resilience and commitment.”

And Wenger is adamant the way his side shrugged off those nerves to make sure they got the 2-1 win with goals from Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin sent a strong signal that they will not be found wanting in the title chase this season.

“If you have ambition in this league you have got to win at Blackburn,” added Wenger.

“If you fail to win at Blackburn – if you go to clubs like that and you don’t win – your ambition will not be respected by the other teams so it was an important test for us.

“The players are committed and we had that little bit more experience today, even if on just one or two occasions we were a bit lucky.”

Wenger did have one downside to his afternoon though as Robin Van Persie suffered an ankle injury which means Wenger is going to miss his services for at least 10 days. Apart from that Wenger was delighted with the outcome of the game.

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Arsene Wenger has told his Arsenal side they must stay ahead of fierce rivals Tottenham and remain the pride of north London.

Spurs are in today’s draw for the champions league group stages for the first time since playing in the 1961/62 European Cup after thrashing Young Boys 4-0 at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham are currently 34.00 to win the Champions League outright while Arsenal can be backed at 15.00.

The Gunners have been the more successful of the two sides during the past decade, landing three league titles, four FA Cups as well as reaching the final of the Champions League in 2006.

However Arsenal have now gone five seasons without winning a major trophy and have even faced a battle to retain their top-four status.

It’s 1.44 that Arsenal go another season without winning a major trophy.

Wenger feels Harry Redknapp’s men can make an impact in Europe, but maintains his team have to retain their focus to stay ahead of their rivals.

“That is down to our performances on the pitch, of course we want to be ahead of everybody else and we are confident we can achieve that,” the Arsenal boss said.

“It is up to them to do well and then (see) who is the best.”

Wenger, though, warned Spurs will have to adapt quickly to the challenges of top-flight football at home and in Europe.

“What is very important is that you are capable of focusing on the Champions League and the Premier League. It is not easy because both take a lot of energy,” Wenger said.

Arsenal are one of the top seeds in today’s draw, but could yet face Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Wenger, though, is more concerned with the fixture logistics than opposition.

“You always look at it to test the difficulty of the schedule you will face in terms of travelling, the shorter the better,” he said.

“Also there is the difficulty of the fixtures – it is all in the luck of the draw.”

Don’t forget, all Premier League and Champions League matches are covered by the bet365 100% Euro Soccer Bonus, where you can earn a bonus of up to 100% on your accumulator returns.

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UEFA are assessing damage caused to the replacement stadium for Dundee United’s Europa League second leg against AEK Athens.

More doubt has been cast on the venue in the last 24 hours.

With the recently-laid pitch unplayable at AEK’s home ground, the Olympic Stadium, the Greek club on Tuesday secured a deal to play at Nea Smyrni Stadium, the home of Panionios.

However, damage was caused to the pitch and goalposts on Tuesday night in an apparent attempt to sabotage the contest.

UEFA officials were due to inspect the stadium before United arrive in the Greek capital but AEK, who lead 1-0, remain confident the tie will go ahead as scheduled.

An AEK spokeswoman said: “There was damage but nothing has changed so far.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, although I accept it looks bad in the photographs.

“Should something change there will be an announcement right away on our website in Greek and English.”

AEK also played down fears that the 11,700-capacity stadium would not be able to accommodate the number of ticket-holders.

“We have already issued an announcement that the fans who have purchased tickets or season tickets will be allowed in,” the spokeswoman added.

“The stadium is big enough for the tickets sold, ticket sales are not an issue.

“In Greece a lot of people buy season tickets to support the club but do not go to every game.”

The vandalism was the latest episode in a week of uncertainty over the fixture.

The Olympic Stadium pitch was deemed unplayable on Monday after the new surface failed to bed amid problems with watering.

United were initially told the match could be moved almost 200 miles away to Volos but the Tayside club were understandably angered by that prospect.

AEK were given a deadline of noon on Tuesday by UEFA to find an alternative venue and were then allowed an extra four hours.

It was then confirmed that the match would be played in the home of their rivals Panionios, which is just more than two miles south of Athens city centre.

United have sold most of their allocation of 800 tickets for their first European away fixture in five years, but told supporters that new arrangements could not be released until after AEK held a meeting with police this morning.

UEFA have confirmed their officials were assessing the stadium but would not be in a position to comment until Wednesday afternoon.

Tottenham have completed the signing of former Arsenal defender William Gallas on a one-year contract.

The French International, who was out of contract after leaving the Gunners, had only to complete a medical and agree personal terms.

Spurs have also retained the right to extend the contract of the 33-year-old for another season.

He joins a select band of players who have turned out for Arsenal and Tottenham and the move is likely to be controversial with some fans of both north London rivals.

But Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said on Friday: “It’s all cobblers.

“What’s he done? It’s not the Yorkshire Ripper I’m signing, is it? He’s a footballer, he plays football.”

Gallas could feature in the side who play against Young Boys on Wednesday as Spurs aim to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

Spurs, who are currently 41.00 to win the Champions League outright,  need to overcome a 3-2 deficit in the second leg of the crunch tie and can be backed at 1.25 to win Full Time Result, Young Boys are on offer at 9.00 while the draw is 5.50.

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