And the Spaniard claims the players have been too busy joking with each other to discuss the transfer speculation which has had Scottish football gripped for the last week or so.

Novo himself was initially linked with a return to Spain with La Liga side Deportivo La Coruna at the start of the January window.

But speculation about his future at the club has been overshadowed by Rangers' decision to accept an offer from Birmingham for top goalscorer Kris Boyd, who has already netted 20 goals this term.

The move collapsed over personal terms but the deal may yet be resurrected and Boyd could still be plying his trade in the Championship by the end of the month.

With Rangers admitting their willingness to offload one top player in the current window, skipper Barry Ferguson has also been linked with Newcastle and Middlesbrough.

Tuesday night's Homecoming Scottish Cup win over St Johnstone was the first match since the speculation began and the 2-0 victory was far from convincing.

But Novo was adamant recent events had nothing to do with the performance on the park.

"To be honest, it has been normal for the players," he said.

"It has been a normal time for training; we have been joking and enjoying the training. We have not been talking much about anything. I think everyone is happy.

"The boys have been fantastic. There has been speculation about Boyd and Ferguson and they are really good players; they have been great for us.

"But the speculation is nothing to do with me so I don't really know what is happening there."

Tuesday night's fourth-round clash at McDiarmid Park signalled the beginning of Rangers' defence of the Scottish Cup and they were forced to rely on an own goal late in the first half from Stuart McCaffrey for a lift heading into the interval.

Novo then came off the bench to secure the win late on and book a meeting with Forfar in the next round.

"All the competitions are special for the club and we were delighted with the win," Novo said.

And he believes it is too early to write Rangers off in any competition, adding: "At the moment, we are still in the three trophies and I'm quite happy that we can go on a run now and see how it goes."

Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist fully expected a tough night at McDiarmid Park, although he pointed to Saints' qualities rather than any problems at Ibrox as the reason for an uninspiring display from his players.

"It was as difficult as we initially thought it would be," he said.

"St Johnstone played particularly well in the first half and our goalkeeper kept us in it with some good saves.

"Make no mistake about it, it wasn't a shock to us. We knew St Johnstone were sitting top of the league and were undefeated in 14 games.

"They took us to penalties in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup last year so it wasn't a surprise to us.

"We knew we would have to be on our toes and I'm very pleased to be through."