FOOTBALL'S Battle of Britain of 1992 has a nostalgia tinged with a sense of astonishment of what has befallen the once high-flying clubs.

Leeds United and Rangers, who contested two vibrant matches in the Champions League, now have more humble footballing assignments as they face substantial financial problems.

There are survivors from that titanic clash and three will be in Kirkcaldy tomorrow night as Rangers travel to Raith Rovers for an SPFL Championship match.

Gary McAllister, who scored at Ibrox in his side's 2-1 defeat, will be analysing the match in his role as BT Sport's Scottish expert while Ally McCoist, who scored twice in the eventual 4-2 aggregate win for Rangers back in '92, and Ian Durrant will be in the dugout.

Their presence will serve as a reminder of when both clubs were kings of their countries. Leeds now lie 18th in the Championship with fears over ownership and without a manager. Rangers, bedevilled by repeated speculation and beset by financial concerns, are also in the Championship, the Scottish version, of course.

"The Battle of Britain does not seem that long ago," recalls McAllister. "Both grounds were bursting at the seams and Rangers were unlucky not to go all the way in the competition." Speaking from his home in England, one wondered if McAllister was doing the interview from under his duvet as he has attracted the honour of being touted for the Leeds United managerial post he held in 2008. Given the problems at the club it should come with a tin hat rather than a tracksuit, with the most recent incumbent lasting six matches. "I have not applied but never say never. Leeds is a club that is very close to my heart," he says.

He "hopes and prays" both sides come out of the other side of their respective problems but adds that Leeds United are "light years behind" the Premier League best and would need "an oligarch or a Middle East mogul" to bring them back to the top quickly. "Rangers are coming back to compete at the top end of the Scottish game and are not as far behind," he says.

The trip to Kirkcaldy is far removed from the Champions League but McAllister knows it carries a huge importance for Rangers. It is a match replete with sub-plots.

Kris Boyd and Steve Simonsen have said this week that the players at Ibrox are able to block out the financial storm but McAllister has his doubts: "That is all right over a short period when you can put things on one side. But Rangers has become a saga. It's been too long on the front page and the back page."

He acknowledged that players at a big club had to deal with "extra stuff", adding: "It is part of the gig." But he said the present generation of Rangers players would have to "dig deeper into their reserves to come out the other end".

"I look at Lee McCulloch and he has not shied away from that. I am sure Ally is looking to such as Lee, Boyd, [Kenny] Miller and [Lee] Wallace to have that mentality."

There has also been concern about another administration that sees Rangers stripped of points, jeopardising a move back to the Premiership. This places an onus on the club to win every possible point. McAllister recalled a similar situation when he managed Coventry from 2002 to 2004. "If we had slipped into administration then and taken the points penalty then we would have been relegated. It never happened but we had done the calculations. I do not know if that is something the staff at Rangers are doing or if the players are aware of it but I am sure somebody has pointed it out along the line."

Tomorrow night will bring him to another meeting with his former Scotland team-mate, and his side's nemesis in 1992, McCoist.

He is aware of the strains endured by his friend but is convinced of the former striker's resilience.

"You do not play at the level at which Ally played at by just being a nice guy. That is in his nature but what's also in his nature is a desire to be the top goalscorer, the best manager. He is ferocious. He is hard. You have to remember that people have tried to stop him his whole life but he kept scoring, kept being successful. Over the last two or three years there have been times when he has looked like he is feeling the stress of what is happening to his club. But he has ground it out."

McAllister is also revealing on another old mate, his Leeds United team mate, Gordon Strachan. He believes the Scotland manager will come up with a pragmatic plan to make the best of his squad. "He is in his pomp on the training field," he says of Strachan. "He goes into the finest detail so players know what their job is, but he gives them a freedom when they have the ball."

So will Rangers and Leeds overcome their problems and will Strachan take Scotland to Euro 2016? "These clubs are fortunate; they have fans who are incredibly loyal. They will come through because somebody will grab them and utilise that fan base, and I can see Gordon getting Scotland to Paris."

n Raith Rovers v Rangers is exclusively live on BT Sport 1 from 7.30pm tonight. BT Sport will screen 12 live SPFL matches before the end of November including Rangers v Hibs (29 September), Hibs v Hearts (26 October) and Hearts v Rangers (22 November).