By Andrew Dickson

WALTER SMITH and his coaching team will be in France this weekend to watch Champions League rivals Lyon in action.

Assistant Ally McCoist and first-team coach Kenny McDowall will join the manager on a flight from Glasgow before watching Alain Perrin's side playing at Caen.

After Rangers successfully got Sunday's SPL meeting with Gretna at Fir Park postponed, their next opponents asked the French Football Federation to cancel their league game too.

But Lyon's request was denied, meaning they will make the 900-mile round trip to the Stade Malherbe four days before they line up at Ibrox in a winner-takes-all clash with the Light Blues.

Not playing in Motherwell this weekend means Smith and his staff can make an additional trip to run the rule over Lyon in Normandy that they would otherwise have been unable to make.

Having been told to stick to their schedule, OL manager Perrin has vowed to make changes to his team in a bid to keep as many key players fresh for the trip to Scotland

He will be without injured goalkeeper Gregory Coupet and defensive duo Cris and Patrick Muller, while Fred and Fabio Santos only have a 50/50 chance of playing on Wednesday.

Perrin said: "The match in Glasgow is very important but we can't let it get in the way of Caen. A good match there will be the best preparation for a match like the one we face against Rangers.

"Some players have played a lot so yes, I'll rotate a bit. Some other players will get some game time and it'll help keep them competitive.

"The problem with the Caen match isn't fatigue but niggling injuries and knocks. Some players not playing will help us avoid small injuries.

"We asked the league to put off this match so we could match Rangers but the league refused so we'll go ahead and play to hold our position in the table and maintain our status at the top."

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