WALTER SMITH will field his strongest team against Dundee United at Ibrox tomorrow - and keep his fingers crossed.

The must-win SPL game could see Rangers close to within a point of Celtic, who host Hibs on Sunday.

Dougal is cup final referee Stuart Dougal was today appointed as the referee for the Scottish Cup Final between Rangers and Queen of the South on Saturday, May 24 at Hampden. This is his second national final - he also refereed the 2004 showpiece when Celtic beat Dunfermline. Dougal's assistants will be James Bee and John Gilmour, while Alan Freeland will be the fourth official in his last match before he retires.

And Smith will pray he picks up no injuries with the Uefa Cup Final against Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester now just five days away.

He said: "Dundee United will be a stern test, of that there is no doubt. Craig Levein has done a terrific job there, and we have had extremely tough matches against them in the league, and also in the CIS Cup Final.

"My priority is to pick a team that can try to beat United. We are in a must-win situation in the SPL, there is no getting away from that.

"I do have a fair idea of how we would like to go against Zenit next week. I have watched a couple of DVDs, and Ian Durrant will go to Holland tomorrow to watch them play AZ Alkmaar.

"But we can only think about that after tomorrow. Hopefully we'll not pick up any injuries, but we need to beat United and that is all that's in my mind right now."

The Gers boss, meantime, has confirmed he will make several changes to his squad over the summer - no matter what happens in the next two weeks as Rangers chase a Quadruple.

He has big money to spend after this season's European run raked in £25m, while the £9m sale of Alan Hutton in January to Spurs also boosted the coffers.

Smith also says he'll try everything he can to keep Carlos Cuellar and Allan McGregor.

He said: "We will need to make changes. We have to try and improve our squad, that is a big factor for us.

"Just how many changes we make I am not quite sure yet, but there will be changes, regardless of what happens in the next couple of weeks.

"The European run has eased the financial pressure a bit, and hopefully we can maybe look at getting one or two players that we maybe couldn't have thought about before.

"People talk about the standard of our team and play, but what do they expect us to do in the first year?

"Anybody in any business knows there has to be a level of progression over a period of time. It is important for the progress of any team to manage to keep the core together.

"But if a team does well then it is natural that the stock of the players rises, and other teams will come and have a look.

"We are in a situation at Rangers where, possibly for the first time, there is a realism about the financial situation. But we do hope to fend off any offers that come in."

Smith will sit down with Davie Weir, who turns 38 this month.

"We have an agreement to sit down and see what he wants to do. His family are settled in England, he has four kids and he has been travelling up and down. Knowing him, he will want to play on, but we'll have a chat," said the manager.