Rangers v

Motherwell

Rangers will field their Danish international Brian Laudrup in their Scottish Cup replay against Motherwell at Ibrox tonight, with his manager, Walter Smith, confident that the fall-out from Stamford Bridge and the Ruud Gullitt episode will not adversely affect his player.

Yesterday, as Smith announced his squad he said: ''Brian is in the pool of players and he will play in the game.

''The circumstances which surrounded the match on Saturday are no longer there.

''There was so much publicity about the Chelsea business on Friday night and, again, on Saturday morning, that I felt it better to leave Brian out of the team for the Fir Park game.

''Things have changed since then and so he will be back, and I feel happy about his attitude.''

Smith's main worries lie with the absence of Sergio Porrini - his yellow card at the week-end was his second of the tournament that rules him out of the replay - and an injury to Gordon Durie, which has made him doubtful .The striker picked up a hamstring injury at Fir Park where he scored the vital equaliser for the Ibrox side.

Smith has bracketted Gordan Petric and Craig Moore as possible replacements for the Italian defender.

Both have been out of any first-team plans for some time, but one of them will be called to action against Motherwell in a game which Smith sees as being difficult for his side.

The Rangers' manager had warned before the first game that the tie would be one that could throw up problems and he was proved right.

Yesterday he underlined that as he pointed out: ''Motherwell's form against the Old Firm this season has been very good.

''So good, in fact, that you question just how they can be in the league position they are in right now. It is hard to grasp that.

''We know that they will present us with problems yet again, and the two front men Tommy Coyne and Owen Coyle play well together.

''They have a very good understanding and yet I felt on Saturday that we contributed to our own downfall because of the way we chased the game when we did not have to.''

Clearly Smith will warn his defenders this time round that they cannot go charging upfield against a Motherwell team which has been coached to hit the Old Firm on the break and which has been successful in doing just that.

After the week-end game stand in manager Andy Watson - who is set to leave the club and join former manager Alex McLeish at Hibs - declared that the team had a method which had been worked out by McLeish to combat Rangers and Celtic.

It is, therefore, unlikely that they will alter the game plan tonight. Nor will they alter the personnel much from Saturday after being so close to a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament at the first time of asking.

The Rangers' striker Marco Negri is one man who hopes that the Fir Park team will stick to the same strategy as that paraded on Saturday.

Back to scoring form against Motherwell after his eye injury, said: ''Sometimes teams come to Ibrox and they play defensively against us, and that is something which can give us problems and it is not good to watch for the supporters.

''I hope that does not happen in this game and, perhaps it won't, because this is a Cup game and Motherwell have to get goals to win the game and to go on in the tournament.''

Then he revealed: ''I am still getting flashes from the eye which was injured.

''I still see these flashes, but the doctors have told me that there is no risk attached to that.

''Sometimes when people have had a similar injury then they can see the flashes of light for four or five years.

''I have been told that I can play again without worry and I am doing that and all the time, with every day of training, and every game, I feel I am returning to full fitness.

''It was all so strange the way the injury happened. I had gone to play squash with Sergio Porrini after training, to relax and still to keep fit, and then the ball hit me in the eye and I am lucky that it was not more serious.

''At the time when I had to rest at home, just lying in bed, I was thinking about my career, about Rangers, about not being able to play and I decided that I would never play squash again.

Then, moving back to the replay Negri insisted: ''The supporters can help us. Playing at home is better than playing away from home in the Cup and I believe that we can win this game and what we will want then, as players, is to go on and win the Cup and also win the League.

''I know how important that is to the Rangers' supporters. And although I would like to keep on scoring goals it would not matter to me if I was not the player who did score when the trophies are won. Rangers come first.

''I want rangers to be successful, for then we are all successful together and that is the priority.''

q FALKIRK have made their Scottish Cup quarter-final tie with St Johnstone all-ticket.

Brockville has a capacity of just 5,280 but the First Division club are to meet council chiefs to see if they can get permission to add up to another 2,000 to their capacity for the tie on March 7.