Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, last night expressed his disappointment over comments that Joe Kinnear, the Newcastle United manager, had made an inquiry for Barry Ferguson, the Scotland midfield player, but stressed his club captain would lose no sleep over the issue.

Smith, whose Ibrox side edged closer to Celtic at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with victory at Inverness yesterday, denied that Kinnear had been in touch with Rangers over the availability of Ferguson, who has 18 months still to run on his contract.

“It’s strange, I must say,” Smith said of Kinnear, “that that happens, especially if the comments are accurate, that he said he has been in contact with Rangers which, as far as my chairman, my chief executive and myself are concerned is not the case. In fact, there has been no contact from Newcastle or any other club for Barry Ferguson.

“That part of it is a little bit disappointing, that they would say that when, obviously, it has not been the case. I have made it clear that the players at Rangers I would want to leave the club are those who are unhappy at being out of the team.

“That’s what we have to adjust to more than anything else and what disappoints me is that, every since I’ve said that – and I’ve said it consistently – all I keep reading is about players who are actually playing in the team but I will repeat that the players we’re looking to move on are lads outside the grouping and to be fair many of them would like to move on because they can’t get a game. Jean-Claude Darcheville was the first of them but there are others. As for the rest, I can have no influence on who wants to bid for a player.”

Smith refuted suggestions that such transfer talk surrounding a player who returned to Rangers four years ago after a less than satisfying spell with Blackburn Rovers in the Barclays Premier League, might unsettle Ferguson.

“Barry is experienced enough to deal with that,” he insisted. “Players don’t get upset about things like that, although it was a strange one for the simple reason that there has been no contact from Newcastle.

“I can appreciate a manager being interested in a player but it’s disappointing for a manager to say he’s been in touch with Rangers when he hasn’t.

“Whether that has been done to pacify the Newcastle support, I don’t know. I can’t think of any reason for him to say it when he hasn’t been in touch.

“What football manager can say that if somebody comes along and makes a bid for one of his player that you don’t have to consider it – you have to. And that’s what we did last season with Alan Hutton [who went to Tottenham Hotspur for £9 million].

“The only offer we have at the moment is for Alan Gow from Wolverhampton Wanderers.”