Rangers manager Walter Smith yesterday refused to comment on reports that Paul Gascoigne had broken a club drinking curfew before last Friday's match against Celtic. Rangers players are not allowed to drink for 48 hours before a game but Gascoigne was said to have been seen with his long-time friend, Jimmy `Five Bellies' Gardner, in the Cameron House Hotel, on Loch Lomondside for around 12 hours until the early New Year's Day.

The player was left on the bench for the game, which Rangers lost 2-0, even though Smith had arranged a closed-doors match against Raith Rovers four days earlier in an effort to improve Gascoigne's sharpness for the Old Firm match.

Gascoigne caused offence to some Celtic supporters by playing an imaginary flute in front of them as he warmed up on the track before replacing Jorg Albertz 18 minutes from the end of the game. Smith has said that the player will be "dealt with internally" over the flute-playing act, but gave no hint as to what form any possible disciplinary measures may take.

Meanwhile, Gascoigne is being divorced by his estranged wife Sheryl.

He told the Sun: "She served the papers on me. But I'm feeling fine."

The couple, who have a one-year-old son, Regan, have had a turbulent relationship. They married in 1995 but three months later Sheryl (32), a former model who has two other children from a previous marriage, was photographed after being beaten at a luxury hotel by Gascoigne.

He later underwent counselling, but they spent more time apart. He is based in Glasgow and she has continued to live at their home in southern England.