WALTER SMITH today told his Rangers players they need to keep their winning run going until the end of the season if they want to be crowned Scottish champions.

Smith's team head into their first post-split fixture with third-placed Hearts at Ibrox on Sunday with confidence high after an encouraging spell of form.

The Gers have defeated Falkirk, St Mirren, Motherwell and Hibs to move to within just a point of Old Firm rivals Celtic at the top of the Premier League table.

However, the Rangers gaffer, whose team also beat the Buddies 3-0 in the Homecoming Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden last weekend, knows they can not allow their standards to slip.

He stated: "Once you start runs such as the one we are on at present you are always loathe to talk about them in many ways.

"We're certainly on a good run of form at the moment and we have been playing well for spells in games. I felt we did very well at Easter Road after being put under a wee bit of pressure, but then we were slow to start last Saturday, albeit we scored very early.

"We know we have to hit a level of consistency and hopefully, in terms of how we play, that will come along with results.

"We also know that we will have to work very hard to ensure that happens over the next month or so.

"At this stage, your job is to win above everything else, but we'd obviously like to set a good standard of play too."

Speaking in the Rangers News, Smith added: "For the moment, we're just delighted with our wins and we'll continue to be happy if we get enough others between now and the end of the season to achieve our goals.

"I don't think I'll be bothered that much about how the team has played if we get the results we're looking for.

"We have to keep building a winning run. The crux of the whole championship is that you have to hit form at the right time.

"Although we still have to overcome Celtic, we're in a good position and now it's up to us to win our remaining matches."

Smith believes Celtic will have benefited from their warm-weather training break to La Manga in Spain.

He explained: "It was a good thing for them to do because it gave them a break and allowed them to train well. But we would rather be in the Scottish Cup Final."

Meanwhile, Rangers are close to agreeing a glamour pre-season friendly with Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund at the 80,000-seater Westfalen Stadion in the summer.

The Glasgow club will travel to Germany for a week-long training stint in July and will play two amateur teams before locking horns with Dortmund. Rangers have been confirmed as the home team for the Home-coming Scottish Cup Final with Falkirk at Hampden on May 30.