IAN DURRANT'S number flashed up on Ally McCoist's mobile. The Rangers Under-19 coach and occasional scout was checking in after checking out Fiorentina's 2-0 Serie A defeat to league leaders Inter Milan, a timeworn routine between the two old team-mates that had been rehearsed prior to the club's European adventures all season long. But it was what was left unsaid this time that had the greatest impact.

"There was a worrying thing from Durranty's report," McCoist recalled. "He normally phones me immediately after the game he is watching, and it normally starts off with a We'll hump them'. But there was no We'll hump them' about Fiorentina.

"He Durrant said they were really well organised," the Rangers assistant manager added. "He said they didn't have any real stars, apart from Adrian Mutu - who is their main threat, but were really solid and worked hard as a team. Against Inter Milan, he said that once they lost the first goal they lost their discipline a little bit, but in terms of ability they are as good as anyone we will face. They are probably on a par with Werder Bremen."

All of that would be distressing enough for Rangers without the devastation which Wednesday night has wrought, not so much to the Ibrox side's general squad, as to its established first XI. In addition to losing their eight-match unbeaten run, and having their grasp partially loosened from the SPL trophy. The upshot of that traumatic late defeat at Celtic Park was that the Ibrox side face a 10-day period which includes three semi-finals and one Old Firm game with the very spine of their side scattered to the wind by injury and suspension.

Injuries to Allan McGregor and Lee McCulloch would have been inconvenient at any point in the campaign, but couple that with the suspension of four different key players (Carlos Cuellar, Barry Ferguson, Kevin Thomson and David Weir) in the next three games, and it is doubtful whether even Walter Smith would have envisaged Rangers' squad suddenly being subjected to such a test at such a crucial point.

Yet even still, Rangers possess safety in numbers, and not just the three games in hand which they hold over Celtic this morning. Smith's stealthy recruitment process sees loan signings Steven Davis and Christian Dailly becoming more prominent with every passing week, while Nacho Novo, Kris Boyd, Daniel Cousin, Steven Naismith, Chris Burke or even Alan Gow can all come back in, particularly if a strategic decision is made to tinker with the formation. That seems more likely in this afternoon's Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone than in what is likely to be another cagey European first leg on Thursday night.

The options don't end there, however, and in a sense today's game will double up as an audition for Thursday night. Playing Steven Smith, for instance, would allow Sasa Papac to return to the centre half position in which he made his name. Thomas Buffel has made just three substitute appearances all season, but McCoist this week hinted that even he could feature in an attempt to help the club over the finishing line. Regardless of any supplementary cash which may have to go to Feyenoord's direction should Buffel break a specified appearance threshold, it seems rather indulgent to have a Belgian international kicking his heels amid the mass shortage of available midfielders which will afflict his side against Fiorentina in midweek.

"There is every chance of Thomas featuring," McCoist said. "At a time like this, we will be using everybody in our squad and certainly Thomas's fitness is not a problem, although his first-team match fitness might be a problem. He has been monitoring the first team, he has been in squads, and has been playing in reserve games and things like that. Having said that, I think he did miss Tuesday's reserve game but a fit Thomas Buffel could well come into contention. He is over the wee thing he had, so he should be fine for the squad on Sunday. You can't really buy that experience and the squad is now going to be tested to the full with the games that are coming up."

The question is whether these squad guys can grab the opportunity which is presented to them.

"No disrespect to Partick but in the first game against them, for a lot of the boys who came in it was a massive opportunity which they didn't take," McCoist said. "Hopefully one or two will get a run in the game against St Johnstone and will be available in the game against Fiorentina. But it is a headache we could've done without."

For his part, Papac would have no problem moving to centre half, insisting he would be happy even to play as goalkeeper. McGregor may be out, but things aren't quite that bad for Rangers just yet. The Bosnian's main concern is simply enduring the equivalent of a "double season" in Austria, and attempting to avert a repeat of one of his worst moments as a Rangers player, when St Johnstone dumped them out of the CiS Cup last season. "We had problems before this game and after this game," Papac said.

"It was not a good time for us. But it is not the same Rangers that is here now. The spirit is stronger now, we have more confidence, and more, better players."

Perhaps it is little surprise that Smith and his assistant manager remain so bullish about their team's title hopes just as injuries and suspensions seem to be wreaking havoc around them. Smith's managerial baptism came in the 1991-92 season, when the departure of Graeme Souness and severe injury woes were put to one side as Rangers beat Aberdeen 2-0 in a last-day title decider.

"For me, the perfect example of this was the last game of the season in 1991-92 against Aberdeen," McCoist said. "I still don't know how we won that game. We had just lost a manager. I was going in for a double hernia on the Monday, so I was sub, Durranty was sub going in for an op the following week, John Brown got an injection on his Achilles so he could play, knowing it was going to go during the game. Tam Cowan broke his leg during the game, Brown went down in the box, his Achilles had just snapped and Mark Walters said to the physio are you sure he's got to go off, because my hamstring is a bit tight'. Compared to that, we're on an ocean liner at the moment."