Ian Durrant was convinced he had left Ibrox for good when he played out the twilight of his career at Kilmarnock. Now, he is reunited with his closest friend, Ally McCoist, and working in unison for the European glory that eluded Rangers' most successful team.

The coaching duo were dispatched to the DSB Stadium in Alkmaar to watch Zenit St Petersburg's tune-up match against AZ. Where once they would quibble over rounds at the bar, they spent the early part of Saturday night arguing over a pen and notepad. They have provided historic context and inspiration to a team hurriedly pieced together by Walter Smith.

Contesting an unprece-dented quadruple has given a largely inexperienced and unheralded group of players a profound appreciation of the requirements of Old Firm life.

"They found out in the last two months what it means to play for Rangers," said Durrant of the chaotic fixture schedule.

"When you are going for four major trophies, you find it out very quickly. There is no hiding place."

Durrant expressed his gratitude to one of Smith's predecessors, Alex McLeish, for bringing him back to Ibrox as reserve team coach and enabling him to play a part in the quest for greatness.

"When I joined Kilmarnock, never in my life did I think I would return to a position like this," said Durrant. "I can't believe I am scouting our rivals in a European final. I was lucky enough that Alex brought me back into the fold and I will be eternally grateful to him for that.

"Your life as a footballer is simple: you play, you train, you rest; it's all mapped out. As a coach, it's now 24/7 and you can see that by the fact that McCoist even came on this trip and had the cheek to take the pen off me for notes."

Both had taken part in a lap of honour at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon, after Rangers won their last home game of the season, 3-1 against Dundee United.

They flew straight to Amsterdam for the scouting mission on Dick Advocaat's side and left optimistic of Rangers' prospects against the formidable Russians, who beat Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

"Every team is beatable and, if you get to a final, then all bets are off," said Durrant.

"Ally and I were at Ibrox before we left, and it was a rush job to get here, but we cannot leave any stone unturned in pursuit of this trophy. I thought when we beat Werder Bremen, we had a chance of going all the way because they were a quality team and I have already said to the manager they were the best team in this UEFA Cup."

Durrant left with confirmation of Andrei Arshavin's exceptional talent. The Russian playmaker strutted his way through Saturday night's bounce game, exhibiting his depth of talent. But a knee injury that has kept him out of action for two weeks offered encouragement to Rangers.

"He is a top player but you could see a heavy strapping on his knee and that shows he is carrying a knock and is just coming back to fitness," said Durrant.

"He has not played the last few games but he is sharp and has ability. We know they have quality, but so have we.

"If we keep worrying about their quality, we take the focus away from our own quality."

Arshavin's return counterbalances the suspension of Pavel Pogrebnyak for the final. The target man made a substitute's appearance in the 2-2 draw against Louis van Gaal's side - purposely set-up to imitate Rangers' defensive strategy - and was considerably more effective than the Turkish striker who will take his place, Fatih Tekke.

Pogrebnyak won and converted Zenit's equalising penalty and Durrant is heartened by his unavailability.

"It is good that their main striker is suspended because when he came on you could see what he was capable of," said Durrant. "He won his team a soft penalty but was willing to drive into the box and take a chance.

"He is a class apart but even though he is missing, Tekke came in and linked up really well - especially with Alejandro Dominguez - playing nice one-touch football."

In a one-off encounter, Durrant expects Rangers to be given more possession than in previous backs-to-the-wall performances against Werder Bremen and Fiorentina by Zenit, who themselves favour a counterattacking style.

He added: "They like to break forward quickly and we have to be alert and cope with that. I think we will have a lot of possession and that's where we have to make it count.

"They play one up front and funnel back, like us, so we have to be on our guard when they break fast but we have spotted a few deficiencies we can maybe exploit."

Durrant derived special satisfaction from one of his talented reserves, Dean Furman, making his first-team debut at Ibrox on Saturday.

His own coaching education has improved dramatically throughout this season's European journey.

"It has been fantastic doing this job for the club I love," he said. "It makes it all the more worthwhile when you see one of your boys, young Dean Furman, make his debut.

"I was here last year in Holland scouting for players and have been to Barcelona, Inter Milan and Fiorentina scouting.

"It is a great learning curve. This whole adventure is something we are going to enjoy and make the most of because it might never happen again."