SIR David Murray, the former Rangers owner, has claimed his decision to sell the club to Craig Whyte was his "one mistake" while at the Ibrox helm.

The steel tycoon claimed in an interview that "everyone has forgotten the good times" and said he had no idea Whyte had previously been banned from being a director of a company.

Whyte was disqualified from running a company for seven years in 2000, while an independent probe by Lord William Nimmo Smith found his failure to disclose he was banned from being a company director breached SFA rules.

It was also claimed Sir David has told friends he believes the club will be sold to an outsider and not the Blue Knights consortium being headed by former director Paul Murray.

Sir David sold Whyte the club for £1 last May, having previously claimed he had walked away from deals to sell Rangers after having concerns about the intentions of the prospective owners.

An independent board was also set up to assess Whyte's deal.

As well as selling to the disgraced current owner, Sir David has also been blamed for the multi-million pound tax bombshell expected to hit the Ibrox club within the month.

Many believe Sir David's use of a controversial Employee Benefit Trust has been the major catalyst for the crisis at Ibrox.

But at the weekend, he said: "The one mistake I made is I sold Rangers to somebody who was, unfortunately, untrustworthy.

"There's no system, it's self-policing. If someone is struck off as a director, it's their duty to tell you. So if he doesn't tell us and he doesn't even tell the SFA or the bank, then we're not magicians. We're not mind-readers."

Last week, administrators Duff & Phelps said Whyte has not put a penny of his own cash into the Ibrox club.