Rangers were given permission by the organisers of the UEFA Cup to sign a goalkeeper who would be given clearance to play against Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their tie at Ibrox on Thursday.

And last night, the Ibrox club were handed a lifeline by former manager Walter Smith at Everton who agreed to loan the Scottish champions Norwegian keeper Thomas Myhre, after a series of hectic phone calls over the course of the day.

Myhre had been out injured for most of this season but has returned to action in the Everton reserves and has played in their past two matches.

That has proved he has recovered from the injury which kept him out of action - and, more importantly for Ibrox coach Dick Advocaat, he has vast European experience.

Myrhe has been the first choice for his country in recent times and played in almost all of the qualifying games for next summer's European Championships.

That was the pedigree which attracted Advocaat as he assessed the options open to him. He was without first-choice Stefan Klos, who had damaged a hand, and he did not relish the thought of waiting to see if a special glove could protect him enough for the vital games against Borussia.

He knew that his second choice, Frenchman Lionel Charbonnier also was hurt and his third keeper, Finland's Antti Niemi was on loan to Charlton.

All he had left was young Mark Brown, and while Advocaat played him at the weekend, he knew Borussia would present a much stiffer challenge for the youngster.

Rangers spent yesterday working on a strategy which would allow them to bring in extra experience to the crucial goalkeeping position which caused them to field Brown against Hibs.

The Ibrox side knew that the rules over the goalkeeping position had been set aside when Bayern Munich travelled to Glasgow in the first of their two quali- fying games in the Champions League.

On that occasion, the Germans were allowed to play a fourth-choice youngster in goal when all the men in front of him in the pecking order had been injured.

The European authorities had also decided that Niemi could be recalled from Charlton so long as the Scottish Football Association rubber-stamped it.

A spokesman for the tournament organisers said: ''We have no problem with Niemi returning - that is a matter for the Scottish authorities. If they agree then we would accept that decision for this game when you see the special circumstances that exist.''

However, that was not the road Advocaat wanted to go down. He said: ''We allowed Antti Niemi to go to Charlton to further his career. To take him back now would not be fair to the player. We do not want to do that.

''Our policy here is to sign a player from England, an experienced player, and that is what we are pursuing at the moment.

''We know UEFA will allow this because of the emergency situation and we shall be doing our best to get an experienced keeper in place for the game.''

Klos wants to play, but even with the protection which has been suggested, Advocaat obviously is not happy with that prospect.

What he has done, however, is bring in a keeper who is experienced at this level, who played in almost all of Everton's games in the Premeirship last season, and has plenty experience on the inter-national stage.

The 26-year-old Norwegian was travelling north last night but there seemed little doubt that he had been persuaded that a loan move to Ibrox - it may only be for a month - would assist his aspirations to be back in position for his country in the European Championship finals in Holland and Belgium next summer.

Advocaat spoke to the player yesterday and clearly convinced him that this was an opportunity he should accept. The player, I understand, agreed immediately.

Earlier, the Ibrox club had been assured by UEFA that such a move would be sanctioned by the tournament organisers and Rangers secretary Campbell Ogilvie said: ''We explained the unusual circumstances involved and how it was a specialist position we were discussing.

''We were told that we would be allowed to go ahead to sign a goalkeeper because of what had happened. We had three goalkeepers listed for the tournament, after all, and not one of them was going to be available.''

Meanwhile, Charbonnier could be in trouble with the Ibrox club after allegedly threatening to quit unless he is restored to the first team by December, and launching a double-barrelled attack on Advocaat and his team-mates in a French football magazine.

Charbonnier, a #1m signing from Auxerre two summers ago, lost his place to Klos after picking up a thigh injury last month.

''I will see what my situation is in December,'' the Frenchman declared. ''If I am still only a substitute, I will ask to leave. I would be very keen on a move to Italy.

''Players no longer mean a lot to their clubs. If you get injured, as I did last season, the manager screws up the bit of paper with your name on and chucks it into the waste bin. He'll then dig another name out of his desk drawer, and put it before the chairman.''

Charbonnier also had harsh words for his club's tactics and set up. ''I have had to relearn all my basics with Rangers,'' he said. ''One day the coach even wanted me to face corners with no defenders guarding the posts.

''I subsequently restored order by insisting on a tighter defensive line. However, that doesn't seem to have gone down too well.

''The pre-match preparations here are unbelievable. Players sing and dance on board the bus taking us to the ground, and some even play about with tennis balls five minutes before kick-off.

''When I first arrived I thought I had ended up in a mad house.''