LIKE most managers, Alex McLeish is a con man. This, I hasten to point out, is a good thing. After all, apart from the comings and goings over which he exerts his influence at his club, it is incumbent upon any coach worth his salt to convince his players that they really are infallible while simultaneously pointing out the deficiencies of the opposition.

By the same token, McLeish will try to make life as difficult as possible for his peers by mixing and matching formations and personnel in order to create an element of surprise on the big occasion.

In the age of satellite television, there are few secrets left, but McLeish hinted yesterday that he may yet have a surprise or two in store for Panathinaikos when the teams meet in the Apostolis Nikolaidis stadium tonight.

As with the best gamblers - he has been hugely successful thus far - McLeish retained his poker face ahead of this latest challenge, giving nothing away while insinuating that unexpected changes could be in the offing.

McLeish undoubtedly has a word for it, but back in Scotland, anxious supporters and bookmakers will be watching avidly on television to see whether the Greek champions can call his bluff.

''I don't think we've made it straightforward for opposing managers,'' he said. ''There can't be many people who could sit down and say: 'This is how Rangers play'.''

Even so, McLeish, who has minimal experience of managing at this rarefied level, knows that the stakes are high.

When it was suggested that the lack of pace evident in the Panathinaikos rearguard during their 5-0 thrashing by Manchester United a fortnight ago could be exploited by the speed of the Danish winger,

Peter Lovenkrands, McLeish remained non-committal.

''Peter is in my thoughts,'' he claimed. ''He can terrorise the quickest of defences but I'm not prepared to discuss my line-up or the strength or weaknesses of Panathinaikos with anyone other than my players at the moment.''

Quite apart from the inevitable absences of Dutchmen Fernando Ricksen (who travelled) and Ronald de Boer (who didn't), McLeish has no fresh injury worries.

Given the importance of this match, that is just as well. Without, as usual, singling out individuals, McLeish is convinced that the battle-hardened core of Stefan Klos, Craig Moore, Emerson and Shota Arveladze can provide the backbone for a telling performance from the visitors. ''In a cauldron such as this, there are certain players you can put the kettle on for,'' was his colourful, if oblique, assessment.

Moore, though, looking to make his first start since sustaining a hamstring injury in the first leg of the final qualifying round against FC Copenhagen, is in the mood to play down expectations raised by the opening 2-1 win over Stuttgart. ''We need to make sure we are extremely focused,'' said the Australian, who will resume the captaincy tonight. ''A second's lapse in concentration is all it takes to lead to goal for the other side because you do get exposed at this level.

''I've watched from the sidelines and we've had a very good start to the season and that win against Stuttgart obviously helped, although we still sometimes struggle to find that killer goal.''

The departure of experienced campaigners such as Barry Ferguson, Arthur Numan, Lorenzo Amoruso and Claudio Caniggia has not yet produced the cataclysmic dip in performances predicted by some supporters and pundits and Moore is delighted by that turn of events.

''We've obviously lost a lot of players,'' he said, ''but we'll move on as a club and I believe that, as a group, we have adapted. We've had a good start and our feet are firmly on the ground.''

The 28-year-old will attempt to frustrate a front two of Michalis Konstantinou and either the Croat Goran Vlaovic or Dmitris Papadopoulos as he and his team bid to provide a firm platform from which to launch their more localised assault on Manchester United in the coming weeks.

Panathinaikos, naturally, have other ideas. Their Israeli coach, Itzhak Shum, claims: ''Every team in this group has been enjoying peak form in their own leagues and although we have had injury problems, I believe we still have a strong first XI.''

The determination of the Greeks to compensate for their humiliation in England two weeks ago was put rather more bluntly by defender Giourkas Seitaridis

''We were depressed and angry after the match at Old Trafford and we need to take three points to make that up to our supporters and also to give us a chance to move to the next phase,'' he said. ''That was a bad night for us and we need no more motivation than that.''

Panathinaikos (probable, 4-4-2) Chalkias; Seitaridis, Morris, Kyrgiakos, Fyssas; Michaelsen, Zutautas, Maric, Konstantinidis; Konstantinou, Vlaovic

Rangers (probable, 4-4-2) Klos; Ross, Berg, Moore, Ball; Emerson, Arteta, Khizanishvili, Lovenkrands; Mols, Arveladze

Referee A Ibanez (Spa)