http://www.sportinglife.com/football...and_Smith.html
Scotland manager Walter Smith has given his support to under-fire captain Barry Ferguson.
Smith refused to join the growing army of critics who claim the Ibrox skipper has been struggling to find his form for most of the season.
Rangers midfielder Ferguson is in the Scotland squad for Wednesday's friendly against Switzerland at Hampden Park.
And Smith will not contemplate leaving the 28-year-old out.
He said: "Barry Ferguson is the best midfielder in Scotland, I don't think there is any doubt about that.
"He is captain of the Scottish team and he gets selected in every squad we have in an area of the field where we have some very strong players."
Smith has also included Ian Murray in his squad, but left out fellow Rangers players Kris Boyd and Chris Burke.
Since his £400,000 move to Ibrox from Kilmarnock in January, Boyd has scored eight times and sits top of the goalscoring charts with 25, while winger-turned-midfielder Burke has arguably been the Govan club's best player this season.
Burke is a former under-21 player and Boyd featured for the Future team against Poland at Rugby Park in December.
"Boyd and Burke are in our thoughts but our group has been fairly steady and one of the things you want is to create an environment where people have to play exceptionally well (to get into the squad)," said Smith.
"Both boys have been doing very well this season but some of the boys who have been in such as Garry O'Connor, Derek Riordan, Shaun Maloney and others have been doing well for longer and so I feel it's maybe a little bit early for them.
"Kris Boyd has just changed clubs and Rangers also have a couple of big games over the same period.
"I have watched them quite a bit recently and no doubt they will get an opportunity to be involved sooner rather than later.
"I have said before that I have a number of young players and I will give each an opportunity.
"But I feel it is better to stay with the lads who have been in the group."
The Scots will be playing for the first time since a friendly against the USA at Hampden in November and will not be in action again until the Kirin Cup tournament in Japan in May.
Smith insisted he would cut back on friendlies when he took over from Berti Vogts at the end of 2004, but the former Rangers and Everton manager admits the decrease in fixtures has brought its own problems.
He said: "It gets a bit boring in between the games, not having a team.
"But I don't think the gap between games gives us a difficulty in picking up the rhythm again, I don't think that will be a problem."
best midfielder in the country your having a laugh that fucking hun smith is a clown
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