David Weir turns 38 four days before the UEFA Cup final. The Rangers vice-captain produced a heroic performance to help perpetuate the possibility of a remarkable belated birthday present.

Weir was unflappable throughout last night's 0-0 draw against Fiorentina and, alongside the colossal presence of Carlos Cuellar, helped Rangers secure another tantalising result at Ibrox.

Walter Smith will dust down his team for one more night in the trenches inside the Artemio Franchi stadium next week. The rewards have never been greater. The gameplan has never been simpler.

"We are one good performance away," said Weir when asked how far last night's obduracy had taken his team on the road to Manchester on May 14. "We are reasonably happy, but there is a lot of work to do."

The onus is now on the creativity department to provide the goal that will take Rangers beyond Cesare Prandelli's flair-filled side and into the final against Bayern Munich or Zenit St Petersburg. Weir may be happy to return the captain's armband to Barry Ferguson who, like Kevin Thomson, will be free from suspension for the second leg, but he will not relinquish any responsibility.

"We have done it before and we can do it again," said Weir, having been impressive in the vanquishing of Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen and Sporting Lisbon. "I think the minimum result we wanted was a 0-0, so we are satisfied with it.

"Obviously, it would have been better to score a goal at home but we are still very much in the tie - we are alive and kicking. Being honest, it would have been ideal if we had scored, but we will go over there hoping to give our fans something to sing about. We will definitely go for it."

The result puts Fiorentina in a quandary, but complacency will not be an issue for Weir. "It is a horrible situation for them because they know one goal from us could be enough to win," he said. "I wouldn't say we felt comfortable, but it does not take much for them to score. The slightest mistake and they could punish us, so we have to be concentrated again."

Reinforcements will be available for the second leg but Weir commended the application of a makeshift side. Neil Alexander performed competently while deputising for Allan McGregor, while Christian Dailly and Steven Davis were dogged replacements for Ferguson and Thomson in midfield.

"It was a blow having injuries and suspensions and it is a shame these guys had to miss out on the semi-final, but some will be back and that will give us a boost," he said. "Kirk Broadfoot was up attacking in the 90th minute and Nacho Novo ran himself to a standstill. That typifies the spirit we have here."