Smith has admitted he would be happy to cut down his first-team squad, sparking increased speculation over the future of a number of fringe players.

There have been claims that Deportivo La Coruna are interested in Spanish striker Nacho Novo, but Smith has had no firm enquiries.

Smith said: "We would hope to be active in the transfer market in terms of bringing players in but that is dependent on who we get out.

"We have too many lads in the group who are not playing and they don't like that, which means it's not conducive to having a good squad.

"Nacho is going to Spain in one newspaper then going to Hull in another and there's quite a gap between the two.

"We get to the open season when people are free to speculate but the fact is we've had no contact at this stage regarding any of our players.

"We will just have to wait and see what happens. You go for a few months when the transfer window is closed and you don't have any speculation, but now it has started."

Smith has also today been credited with interest in Hibernian midfielder Dean Shiels, whose contract expires in the summer.

But he emphasised that the priority was to reduce his squad.

"When I returned to Rangers (in January 2007), it was the first time I had really experienced that sort of situation with the window and there are a great deal of rumours at the moment," he added.

"Of course, we have scouts in place as people do at every club but, first and foremost, we must adjust our current squad before we look at bringing bodies in."

One Rangers player at the heart of the recent speculation has been Charlie Adam.

Adam declared he was keen to fight for his place at Ibrox after winning a surprise recall for Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Celtic, and Smith is happy to have him in his pool.

"Charlie has been in and out of the team and whether he's happy with that or not is another matter," Smith told www.rangersfc.co.uk.

"But he can do a job for us. He has done so in the past and will continue to do so in the weeks ahead."