Alan Hutton is on the verge of completing a move to Tottenham after jetting to London, having previously rejected a switch to White Hart Lane.

Rangers are set to gain £9million from the sale of the 23-year-old right-back, making Hutton Scotland's most expensive outfield player.

Smith was also hopeful Daniel Cousin's £3million move to Fulham would be rubber-stamped by FIFA soon, giving him a kitty with which he could do big business before Thursday's midnight transfer deadline.

Rangers have yet to make use of the January sales and fans will be glancing nervously across the city where Celtic have so far recruited Andreas Hinkel, Koki Mizuno and Georgios Samaras.

However, Smith insists his problem so far has not been lack of cash - he claims he simply cannot find anyone good enough to strengthen his first team.

"We had money before the opening of the transfer window," Smith pointed out. "Our situation is quite straightforward and I said this right from the start.

"We would have to improve our team if we were going to bring someone in and we are not finding it easy to bring in players who we feel would improve the team overall.

"It's reasonably easy to bring in players who can be pool players for you but we have a big enough squad of players to handle what we have left of the season.

"It would just have been that extra bit of quality we were looking for and it has been very difficult to find at the present moment.

"The money that we have from this transfer is really not that vital to us; it's finding the quality that is the biggest problem."

A replacement right-back is not high on Smith's wish-list, with Steven Whittaker set to claim the position following an excellent outing on the other flank against St Mirren at the weekend.

Smith added: "Remember, it's near the end of the transfer window that this has happened so it's not a situation we were thinking about overall.

"The transfer didn't take place so that we could go and get somebody else, it was just something that came up.

"Everybody appreciates that the size of the transfer fee is something that very, very few clubs could turn down.

"Steven can play on both sides but right-back is his preferred position and he will take up that position from now on."

Reports suggest Hutton is set to earn in excess of £30,000 per week at Tottenham - around three times his Ibrox salary - but Smith insists he is not worried by Scottish clubs' inability to compete with the inflated wages and fees on offer in the Barclays Premier League.

"It's not frustrating," he said. "We know the situation and that has been the situation for a number of years now so it's not something that has just occurred at the present moment.

"Our biggest problem is getting a quality of player and there hasn't been a huge amount of transfers in England either.

"There is a lot of money down there, and it makes it difficult for other countries to compete against English teams regardless of which country it is.

"It's not just Scotland - bigger countries like France and Germany struggle against the Premiership clubs as well - but we just have to accept that and get on with it."

Club-mate Chris Burke has backed Hutton to be a hit in the Premiership, but insists his departure will not wreck Rangers' hopes of silverware this season.

"He is a fantastic player," said the Rangers winger. "A couple of seasons ago he was struggling to get into the team but the gaffer gave him his chance and he has done ever so well.

"He has all the attributes to be a success, he showed when he played for Scotland how well he can do against top quality players."

But Burke added: "This is a massive club and we have shown this season that we have a massive squad. Whoever steps in will do a job.

"We can still win silverware without him - it's a big club so we will have to. I'm sure we have a big enough squad to challenge for the title and all the cups."

Meanwhile, Rangers could finally sanction Roy Carroll's protracted move to Derby after Smith revealed he was hopeful of having a replacement goalkeeper, possibly Grzegorz Szamotulski, in place in the next 24 hours.