The 26-year-old Spaniard, voted player of the year by the Scottish Football Writers' Association, has been linked with a move to the English Premier League with Newcastle United reportedly one of his suitors.

Certainly, St James Park boss Kevin Keegan would not have been the only manager impressed by Cuellar's typically tenacious performance against the Russian club in Manchester on Wednesday night.

The former Osasuna player was solid at the heart of the Rangers defence although he could not prevent a more technically-gifted Zenit side capturing their first European trophy through second-half goals by Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov.

However, Cuellar shrugged off his disappointment at losing out on the opportunity to win four trophies for the Light Blues this season and reiterated his desire to stay in Glasgow.

He said: "It was disappointing to lose to Zenit but that will not affect my future.

"I have a contract for another three years and I am very happy with that. I am playing at one of the biggest clubs in the country and we have a very good team.

"I can play in the Champions League every year, I have the chance of winning the league and also winning the other Scottish trophies.

"Zenit deserved to beat us. We put in a good performance but they were better than us, they had more possession and they took their chances.

"Now we have to change our mentality. We have lost the UEFA Cup but now we have to win the SPL and the Scottish Cup.

"We have two games more than Celtic to play so we can do it even though we have three difficult games coming up in a short period of time.

"The important thing is that we have to be ready for Motherwell at the weekend."

Cuellar's central defensive partner David Weir, whose contract is up at the end of the season, claimed it was too early to discuss his future.

The 38-year-old, who along with Cuellar has provided the bedrock for the Light Blues' European run as well as their domestic success this season, insists the Ibrox club must quickly re-focus on the SPL title race.

He said: "We wanted to bring the trophy back so it was obviously a disappointing result for us and the fans.

"I thought we were the better side in the second half but football can be a cruel game and there is a fine line between winning and losing at this level.

"Zenit took their chances and so all credit to them for that.

"We have to try and use the defeat as a positive and move on. "If we feel sorry for ourselves then we are in trouble."