For Rangers, the disappointment of defeat was tempered by the immediacy of the challenges that await. Walter Smith's side have now won one (CiS Cup), lost one (the UEFA Cup) and have two more to play for (the league and the Scottish Cup) over the next nine days.

They have no time to feel sorry for themselves following Wednesday's loss to Zenit St Petersburg. In a five-minute interview less than an hour after Wednesday's UEFA Cup final, Lee McCulloch stressed the magnitude of tomorrow's Motherwell game six times.

The European adventure has always been viewed as an unexpected bonus by Walter Smith. The league remains the priority and they must win their last three games, against Motherwell, St Mirren and Aberdeen, to guarantee taking the title off Celtic.

"The first thing everybody said when we got into the dressing room was, There's still two medals up for grabs'," said McCulloch. "I'm gutted.

I thought everyone did well and we were just unlucky. We need to remember the teams they've put out to get to the final. We need to regroup now for a big game on Saturday."

The former Wigan midfielder replaced Brahim Hemdani with 10 minutes remaining and was an influential figure as Rangers chased a late equaliser. He had a late chance but ended up putting off Nacho Novo, who reached the ball ahead of him and blazed it over the bar.

"I was going to hit it and then I saw Nacho and pulled away from it. He thought I was gong to hit it so it was a bit of a misunderstanding.

It wasn't to be, but it's all about Saturday now."

McCulloch thought he had broken his foot after a challenge with Paul Hartley in last month's Old Firm game, but later found out that it was only bone bruising and was able to return to action. Wednesday was also his 30th birthday. Added to the fact that he was never on the losing side at the City of Manchester Stadium during his time at Wigan, he could have been forgiven for thinking that Wednesday was set to be his moment.

"The goals we were shooting into in the second half were the goals I scored into with Wigan, but we didn't really have any chances. It was one of those games that they were counter-attacking every time we went up.

"It's been a good campaign, but you always want the winners' medal. People will say we have done well to get to the final but you want to go and win it. We're obviously disappointed but they were a quality side. I don't think they are in Werder Bremen's league but they have beaten us and they deserved it."

Rangers have attracted criticism from several of their vanquished opponents in the UEFA Cup this season. However, Zenit showed sportsmanship in forming a guard of honour for Rangers as they went up to receive their medals at the end.

McCulloch claimed that the level of criticism did not affect Rangers. "It was all the teams that we beat were saying that we weren't that good and you've got to take that. If you're winning it doesn't matter. Maybe our luck ran out a little bit in the final, but all in all it has been a good campaign and there will be no-one feeling sorry for themselves."

McCulloch says Rangers have the resources to close out the final week of the league season. "Definitely. We've got people who were out injured coming back in now, we have a big squad and Saturday is the big, big game for us. If we win that then it puts us in a great position."

McCulloch hopes to play a key role in bringing the title to Ibrox. "I hope so, though the other side of it is that I won't have my match fitness. I'll need to keep working hard in training and hopefully get some game time."