A statement on the official Rangers website said: "The club would like to clarify that Mr Baxter is not in a coma, although his condition is very serious."

The man affectionately known as 'Slim Jim' was among the finest wing-halves in world football in the early 1960s when he won three league championships, three Scottish Cups and four League Cups.

Baxter, aged 61, also won 34 caps for Scotland and represented the Rest of the World in the Football Association's centenary match against England at Wembley in 1963.

In July 1994 he had two liver transplants in four days at the Scottish Liver Transplant Unit at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Then in January this year Baxter was diagnosed with cancer and spent a month in hospital before returning home to be with his family.