Rangers chairman Sir David Murray has tipped assistant manager Ally McCoist as the long-term successor to current boss Walter Smith.

"I would have thought, all things being equal, that he will become manager," Murray said. "It hasn't been discussed but it's an understanding among us.

"If Walter is successful then the natural successor would be McCoist.

"But if we go another two or three years without winning the league then we will all be under pressure."

Murray did not regard the 46-year-old McCoist as a potential manager when he first bought the club in 1988, but he now believes the assistant coach possesses the ambition for the task.

"He didn't come back to Rangers for the money," Murray said.

"He came here for a lot less than he was earning. You wouldn't have thought of him as a manager 20 years ago, would you?

"But he has a very strong mentality. He is bright and makes a good coaching team with Kenny McDowall, so why shouldn't he become manager?"