The 38-year-old put pen to paper on a contract extension yesterday, along with fellow veteran defender Christian Dailly.

Weir's partnership with Carlos Cuellar at the heart of the defence had a major part to play in Rangers' success last term, as they claimed both the CIS and Scottish Cups and narrowly missed out on the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and the UEFA Cup.

Having reached the club's first European final for 36 years, Weir is now hungry for more success on the continental stage and is relishing a meeting with either FBK Kaunas or Santa Coloma in a crucial Champions League qualifier later this month.

"There's no breathing space," he admitted.

"The season starts with a bang and there are no bigger games than those ones, so we know we have to be up to speed quickly.

"They are big games but every game at Rangers is a pressure game - that's the scenario you have to play under here.

"The Champions League is a big issue financially for the club and we want to be involved in that, as we were last year, and we know we will have tough games in order to get there."

Rangers lost 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final in Manchester in May, following an impressive run that saw them overcome Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina along the way.

Weir added: "It was a great experience for everyone to play against the teams we played against, and to play in the places we played in, and hopefully that can help us again this year."

As well as securing current players on new deals, Rangers have also recruited the services of three new strikers in the shape of Kenny Miller, Andrius Velicka and Kyle Lafferty.

Weir told Rangers World: "Time will tell how they'll get on but the pedigree of everyone who has been signed is very good.

"They are obviously very good players. I've played against some of them and know a bit about them, while others I don't know so much about.

"It's great to have those additions to the squad and competition for places."

Weir is particularly looking forward to joining forces with Scotland team-mate Miller, whose controversial move means he has now crossed the Old Firm divide twice.

He added: "Kenny will score goals wherever he is and he is delighted to be back here and we are delighted to have him."