Walter praises Rangers' Novo

Walter Smith praised Nacho Novo despite the player missing a hatful of chances to send Rangers through in the match with Panathinaikos on Thursday in the UEFA Cup. Novo scored the late leveller.

"He deserved the goal for all the effort he put in," said Smith.

"I know he was disappointed after the first leg but he showed great composure with his finish tonight. He is always there to get a goal and he showed that again tonight.

"He has scored some very important goals this season."

Smith said he was disappointed with his team in the first half but was happy with the second half display.

"We made it difficult for ourselves," said Smith.

"Panathinaikos were perhaps the better side early on and we were disappointed with the goal we conceded.

"They opened up a bit in the second half and we managed to get level at a good time."