WALTER Smith will tailor Jean-Claude Darcheville's training regimen to maximise the Frenchman's impact for the remainder of the season, after the 32-year-old came off the bench to rescue three points for Rangers with the only goal against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Darcheville's 89th-minute goal was his seventh since joining from Bordeaux in the summer but his progress has been hampered by persistent hamstring problems. Smith revealed his fitness and sports science department have altered the striker's programme in order for him to play a more prominent role in Rangers' title challenge.
Smith has regularly identified Darcheville as his ideal link man for either Daniel Cousin or Kris Boyd but has been unable to rely upon the striker with the powerlifter's physique. Now, with Rangers re-establishing a four-point advantage over Celtic, he hopes to see the best of the player.
"The main objective is to keep him fit and injury-free and if we can do that he will be an important player for us - a very important player," said Smith. "When you are getting a new player you have to find a regime that suits him and maybe we have been asking too much of him in terms of physical work. We have cut down his work load a bit and hopefully we get the benefit."
Kris Boyd was held in reserve throughout the 90 minutes, while Nacho Novo also made a second-half appearance. Smith considers the strength of attacking options vital to staying ahead of rivals Celtic.
"We have good options, especially in the front areas, and we can change things around," said Smith. "When you are looking for a goal Kris Boyd is usually your best bet but I felt we needed a bit more pace to make the difference and it worked. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but fortunately it has worked for us in recent weeks.
"I just felt we needed more pressure through the middle and I felt he Darcheville was capable of doing that for us. We were not getting enough from other areas of the pitch."
Darcheville's winner also eased Smith's frustrations after a legitimate Charlie Adam goal was chalked-off on the advice of the assistant referee, Terry Brunton.
According to his reasoning, Cousin had impeded the goalkeeper, Michael Fraser, by running in front of him as Adam curled a shot into the far corner.
"The linesman made the decision and said Daniel ran in front of the goalkeeper but personally I didn't see that," Smith said. "It was a hard-fought three points and we did not do well in the first half.
"I don't think we threatened the goal in the first half but we were better in the second and I was disappointed with the goal that was disallowed because I felt it was clear-cut. Fortunately we managed to get the winner. It was a better performance than the first half, that's for sure. In the last two games we have fallen below the level of our past five games but I am sure we will pick up again. It is unrealistic to expect us to maintain a level the whole season."
Smith will also be without Kevin Thomson with the midfielder undergoing a hernia operation this week. "He trained yesterday but couldn't finish and he will be out for between four and six weeks," said Smith.
The manager is also yet to sanction Roy Carroll's departure despite Derby County and now Sheffield Wednesday being keen to sign him. Carroll was missing through a back injury yesterday.
Smith was also unmoved by reports that Alan Hutton has reconsidered his future and may yet join Tottenham Hotspur in a £9m move. "Alan has already stated that he wants to stay until the end of the season at least so I don't think the situation has changed," he said.
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