Kevin Muscat is "probably" the type of character Rangers need, says interim manager Steven Smith. The Australian is close to agreeing a deal to replacing the sacked Russell Martin at Ibrox. While the club wait for the 52-year-old, who is currently in charge of Shanghai Port, under-19s Coach Smith will lead the team.

Muscat played for Rangers in the 2002-2003 season, winning the treble under then boss Alex McLeish, with Smith having just signed his first professional contract.

Asked if Muscat was the right man to take Rangers forward, Smith replied: "Probably. It's an interesting question. Obviously in the past four or five years we've had different types of managers, there is no guarantee of success anywhere, and it's really difficult to guarantee success when you're at a club where the expectation is to win all the time. That's never going to happen. But we've experienced different managers, whether it be managers that have played here, managers deemed head coach types that are more tactical. So we've had every type of manager, but the priority is always to win.

I was a young player [during Muscat's time at Ibrox], so I only came across him a few times. My job used to be to clean Alex McLeish and the coaching staff's boots, so I used to pass him in the corridor and, as a person, he was really pleasant."

Smith, 40, did not expect to be in the dugout for Saturday's game with Dundee United when he was asked to take first-team training in the early part of last week. "I'd like to think that the sessions that we've put on have lifted the mood," he explained. "We've just stripped it back and simplified it, reminded them that they are a good group."

Smith, who enjoyed two stints with Rangers as a player, insisted that he is taking his new role "day by day", despite personal future aspirations. "I would be lying if I said I didn't want to be involved in the first team at any moment," he said. "I am in no rush. I love my job, but the club are aware that I've also got ambition, which I think you have to have to work here."

Smith says it will be a "proud" moment leading the team at Ibrox on Saturday and he believes things can "turn quickly" for a side who have picked up just eight points from seven Premiership games. "It doesn't take much," Smith said. "It might take one result, one good performance. It might even take one bad performance but you nick a win in the last minute. It might be that a new manager comes in and it changes on that front."