WITH the return of Marco Negri, a starting place for Paul Gascoigne, and the presence of Brian Laudrup, Rangers will attempt to resume normal service against Dunfermline at Ibrox this afternoon.

Rangers manager, Walter Smith, who has never been prone to seek excuses for less-than-impressive performances, did suggest yesterday that the fact that he has not been able to enjoy a continuity of selection has contributed at least a little to the inconsistency of form.

''However, we will need to rid ourselves of that inconsistency if we are to keep going in the championship race,'' he said. ''We have to lift our performance from last week against St Johnstone for a start if we are to get back on the trail again.''

Smith's main decision will be to choose between Theo Snelders and Anti Niemi if goalkeeper Andy Goram has not made a good enough recovery from a bout of bronchitis.

Smith will also be without defender Alex Cleland, who is suspended, and injured Jonas Thern, but otherwise his squad is is in relatively good fettle.

Gascoigne has been troubled with a niggling groin injury all season, and the problem for his club has been that if he plays 90 minutes, he needs to miss out a couple of days training the next week to rest the injury.

Smith tried him out in a midweek reserve match, and although that is not a perfect rehearsal, it did indicate that he was on the mend.

Laudrup, the joint top of the bill at Ibrox, also has been in and the out of the side because of knocks, and that has not helped maintain the momentum as would have been expected.

Now the race is really on and Rangers are well aware that any slip today would allow either Hearts or Celtic, who meet at Tynecastle tomorrow, to take advantage at the top of the premier division.

''Dunfermline made things difficult for us when we drew 0-0 at East End Park,'' said Smith. ''They have had a tough run of results since then, but they will come here with a little more confidence after their win over Kilmarnock last week.''

Meanwhile, Sebastian Rozental, who played his first game for more than a year when he turned out for the reserves on Tuesday, will join the Chilean party today for their preparation to meet England at Wembley next week.

''I do not think they will consider playing him but when he comes back, we would like to play him in a couple of games and then I think he will be ready,'' said Smith.

The Dunfermline keeper, Ian Westwater, has some rough memories to erase when he runs out at Ibrox.

Westwater lost seven goals the last time he visited Ibrox, but, with the inherent optimism that consumes the goalkeepers' persona, he thinks his team could make some kind of amends this time.

He said: ''The last time we went there we didn't do ourselves justice, and it was a disappointing result, but we take heart from the fact that we held them to a 0-0 draw at home.

''However, we know it will be a very different story at Ibrox.

''We have not played the way we know we can recently, but last week was a very big confidence booster.

''We badly needed the points and I'm sure we will continue to get the results that count.''

However, Westwater has been too long in the business to suffer from self-deception. ''We won't be fooled by last week's result and can't go thinking we will beat them just because St Johnstone did,'' he said.

''Saints have been playing very well recently and, by all accounts, deserved the victory. If anything, that result goes against us because Rangers will be looking to get back to the winning ways they are used to.''

None the less, Westwater realises that he has some serious making up to do. ''The boys are putting pressure on me to keep a clean sheet, but with Rangers' striking power it's going to be hard,'' he said, ''but if things go our way, who knows what can happen?''

Fife defender Scott McCulloch will be back after a month's absence through injury and suspension to face the team with whom he was was once a youth player. However, doubtful are midfielders Hamish French, who has a groin strain, and Sergio Duarte, who has flu.

''We have got our confidence back from the win over Kilmarnock,'' said Dunfermline manager Bert Paton. ''We haven't forgotten the 7-0 drubbing at Ibrox, nor that we later took a point off them at East End Park.

''I've told my players to look no further than Stevenage's result against Newcastle. If we can get our game right, then we will take something from Ibrox.''

Paton, who remains one of the few characters left in the game, was literally down on his knees after that last visit to Ibrox.

The eccentric Paton put on a show when he crawled into the after-match press conference begging for mercy.

However, after Paton's men redeemed some of their reputation with that draw at East End Park, the Fifers' leader believes their confidence has been restored.

''We had a nightmare the last time we were at Ibrox, and everyone who played that day doesn't want to feel like that again. Rangers were up for it that day and gave us a real going over.

''There was talk about Gazza leaving and that seemed to fire the crowd up and add to the atmosphere. However, things are different now. We showed that we can compete against them when we got a draw in the last game, and the players did take a lot of confidence from that result.''

Dunfermline supporters wishing to buy tickets for their Scottish Cup tie with Celtic on Monday week, face a hurried journey to Ibrox.

The public sale of tickets goes on between 9.00-1.00 today for the meeting with the Parkhead side, to be televised on Sky.

This does not leave a great deal of travelling time for fans who are heading from Glasgow to see their side take on the other half of the Old Firm.

BOOKIES' VIEW: Rangers - 1-3, Dunfermline - 9-1, draw - 7-2.