WALTER SM ITH has insisted a huge amount of bitterness remains at Rangers over the reaction to the club's liquidation four years ago and that this ill-feeling should be used as a motivational tool from now on.

The former manager at Ibrox also claimed not only was it a mistake by Scottish football to deny Rangers access to a higher league, when instead they had to apply to the fourth tier, but that many of the clubs which voted against this plan had subsequently suffered because of this decision.

Smith's comments will be met with anger and some disbelief by those who will point to the fact the liquidation which followed administration was caused not by anyone else but those running the club at that time, and indeed since then many more mistakes were been made and a lot of money wasted.

A consortium led by Charles Green failed to win any votes in their application to join the Scottish Premier League after purchasing the liquidated club's assets in June 2012. The preferred option of the Scottish football authorities was they were parachuted into what is now known as the Championship.

Smith was adamant Rangers had been wronged, although many owners, directors and officials of the other clubs would argue the Glasgow outfit were if anything fortunate not to escape further punishment for years of contentious tax arrangements, which remain the subject of legal action.

"There was no necessity for Rangers to be put down into the Third Division," said Smith. "That will always stay in Scottish football. There will be a bitterness in the Rangers ranks. It will be a massive motivation for the club. It would certainly be for me.

"How can they forget what happened to them? Nobody could forget that. There is no doubt it was the wrong move in my eyes: Scottish football has been worse off.

"And a lot of the teams who were happy to see Rangers going down there have suffered and found themselves relegated or in the process of being relegated."

Mark Warburton has led Rangers back to the Premiership after a four year exile and the feeling among the supporters is that the other top tier clubs, including and perhaps especially Celtic, have been counting the days until their own side's return.

Smith shares this point of view and said: "Rangers going out the Premier League has, in many ways, caused problems to quite a number of the teams that have been there.

" And Celtic are one of them, in the sense that they have been left more or less alone to win a championship.

"Aberdeen put up a great fight over the last couple of years but it's very difficult for provincial teams to match Celtic, or Rangers when they were at the level they were at five years ago.

"Celtic have had a problem with their own motivation going into games. They have not had Rangers on their coat-tails. I don't think their spending has been what it was, and quite rightly: why spend the money when they don't need to?

"It doesn't matter what anyone says. When I was Rangers manager, you were motivated by Celtic. Your first look after each game was to look to see what their result was. That's a massive motivation to take away and I think Celtic have suffered a bit from that in their performances."

Celtic and Rangers will be reunited on Sunday with the Parkhead club heavy favourites to win the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

Smith would not debate that the club now is very different to the one he managed on two occasions but insisted Dave King, the major shareholder, and his board have to somehow come up with the appropriate funds to help the current manager compete at the top of the Premiership.

"Rangers will have to support Mark Warburton in the manner I was supported as manager, to give him the opportunity to challenge," said the 68-year-old, who won 21 trophies for the club.

"The board want the club to be up there and they have to find a way of doing so. The economics of Scottish football are fairly straightforward for Rangers and Celtic. If you invest in your team and get to the Champions League, you make money. If you don't, you lose money.

"That's the biggest gamble. Rangers are in a totally different circumstance from Celtic, but they have to find a way.

"It can be done. We weren't in a great circumstance when I came back a second time. We weren't in a great circumstance when Graeme Souness took over 30 years ago.

"The club showed a reaction at that time and I'm fairly sure they will show a reaction now."