Dick Advocaat has lauded Rangers for having “big hearts” and predicted yesterday that tomorrow night’s Uefa Cup final in Manchester between the Scottish club and his own Zenit St Petersburg is too tight to call.

Advocaat also revealed that, win, lose or draw at the City of Manchester Stadium, he still hopes to realise his ambition of one day managing in the English Premier League. “I hope that chance will still come for me — I’m sure it will,” the Dutchman said.

Rangers trained at Murray Park yesterday morning before flying down to Manchester in the afternoon. Ironically, Walter Smith, the Ibrox manager, has had to brush off yet another attack on his side’s style of play, after Louis van Gaal’s claim that Rangers were “bad for football” in their cautious, defensive approach.

Smith was confident yesterday that Kevin Thomson, who limped off in the 3-1 victory over Dundee United at Ibrox on Saturday, will take his place tomorrow beside Brahim Hemdani and Barry Ferguson in the heart of Rangers’ midfield. Nacho Novo looks as though he may also have done enough recently to start on the right of Rangers’ midfield.

Advocaat said that it was not just Rangers who had rode their luck in reaching the Uefa Cup final, but that his own team had done so as well.

“We have to be realistic,” Advocaat said. “We played against Villarreal, a better side than us, but we played on the counter-attack. Then we played against Marseilles, again a better team than us, and they beat us 3-1 in France when, to be honest, it could have been 5-0 or 6-0. We played one of our best games to beat them 2-0 at home.

“Then Bayer Leverkusen away was unbelievable for us, winning 4-1. There was a bit of German arrogance in them, so I really liked that result. And Bayern Munich was something special, winning 4-0 at home, although I have to say we had four attacks and we scored four goals.”

While Advocaat believes that his side have more skill and flair than Rangers, he does not feel that it makes Zenit the outright favourites. “Rangers will be well-organised,” the former Ibrox manager said. “They are more defensive than us, but who is better?

“Rangers have big hearts and that quality has taken them a long way. After we beat Bayern in the semi-final, Ottmar Hitzfeld told me that he hoped we would win the Uefa Cup, but I don’t think this final will be easy at all. It could be very close.”

Rangers prepared quietly and confidently yesterday for a game that Smith says he hopes his players can “enjoy” on the night. The Ibrox manager believes that his team can match Zenit, just as they have with a host of European opponents this season.

“We know we’re not perfect, but have resilience and a terrific attitude, and it is a credit to everyone that we have managed to make this progress in Europe,” Smith said. “And, to be fair, we’ve also had a bit of luck along the way. This is my first full season back at Rangers and I don’t think it’s possible to come in and achieve more than we have done.”

Advocaat, meanwhile, confirmed that he still hopes to coach in England. “I hope that will come,” he said. “It has been strange because I feel I have done well. My first two years at Rangers were good. I’ve been two times the coach of Holland, and champion in Holland, champion in Scotland, champion in Russia. I don’t know why it hasn’t come for me yet.”