WALTER Smith has admitted he can understand why Rangers are persevering with their pursuit of Scott Allan – but the legendary Ibrox manager believes their attempt to sign the Hibs midfielder during this transfer window is doomed to fail.

Rangers had a third bid of £280,000 for Championship Player of the Year Allan rejected by the capital club earlier this week and are now believed to be preparing to increase their offer further.

Rotherham United, who had been ready to pay £375,000 for the player, have withdrawn their interest after being informed the former Dundee United and West Brom man is keen to remain in Scotland for the sake of his young family.

The 23-year-old is a lifelong Rangers supporter and has handed in a transfer request - but Hibs have repeatedly stated they will not sell him to their Ladbrokes Championship rivals even though he is out of contract at the end of the 2015/16 campaign when he will be free to leave for nothing.

Hibs manager Alan Stubbs yesterday stressed the latest bid from Rangers has been turned down. "We have had an offer in that it is a little bit more than the initial one - if you can call them offers," he said.

"It has been rejected and the club's stance is exactly the same - we won't do any business with Rangers. We have had no other offers from any clubs."

Smith is one of many in Scottish football who rates the central midfielder highly and believes he could bring a creativity which was lacking in the Rangers team last season in an important area of the side.

However, the 67-year-old feels that, despite bookmakers slashing the odds on the Glasgow-born footballer becoming a Rangers player to 4/5, Allan will remain at Easter Road for the duration of his current deal.

But he has backed the seven new signings which Rangers manager Mark Warburton has made since being appointed in June to help the Ibrox club win promotion to the top flight at the second time of asking.

“Scott Allan showed last season at Hibs that he’s a very creative player and that’s something that Rangers have lacked over the last three seasons, someone who can carry the ball and create an opportunity for others,” Smith told Ladbrokes.

“That’s obviously why Mark wants him, but it looks as though Hibs, and from their perspective quite rightly so, aren’t willing to sell someone who could cause them problems. They’ll not want to sell to anyone never mind their closest rivals.

“Scott would be a terrific acquisition, but I fear Hibs won’t sell so I think Rangers will have to get on without him and I’m sure they will do.”

Meanwhile, Lee Wallace has admitted he is looking forward to playing in front of a full house at Ibrox again tonight as Rangers get their Ladbrokes Championship campaign underway with a game against St. Mirren.

Crowds at the Govan stadium dropped below 20,000 last season due to unhappiness with the people running Rangers and the poor quality of football being played by the team among the support.

Wallace played for Rangers in the top flight – including in Old Firm games against Celtic - and in Europe after signing from Hearts back in 2011 and can remember playing in front of sell-out attendances.

The former Scotland internationalist believes having over 40,000 fans at every Rangers home match will help to ensure that, unlike last season when they quickly fell behind eventual champions Hearts, they launch a strong challenge for the Championship title.

“It’s huge,” said Wallace. “That support will help us and give us an extra 10 per cent of legs at that stage of a game. I had that first time around. I got a small taste of it in the SPL at that point and in a couple of Champions League qualifiers of course. It will be great to get that back of course.

“I have always remained positive and have always stood by my decision to stay. I kept a positive mindset, although there was bad times of course, and believed that we will see the club back and that has been reinforced with how we have gone about our business this pre-season.

“I feel ever so strong that it will be this time around as long as we keep working hard, listening to Davie (Weir), learning with the manager, learning from the new style of play, imposing ourselves, bringing our strengths to the table. I do,

“I have always remained positive and have always stood by my decision to stay. I kept a positive mindset, although there was bad times of course, and believed that we will see the club back and that has been reinforced with how we have gone about our business this pre-season. I feel really confident this year without being arrogant.”