Souness looks to honest toil as Jordan searches for a break.

The Ibrox sick list improves

james traynor

1 Dec 1990

HAVING declared they have no intention of selling off the prize assets, such as Davie McPherson, it would be even better PR if Hearts, who are due at Ibrox this afternoon, were able to damage Rangers' aspirations.

Hearts' supporters would welcome a sign that better days lie ahead following the speculation which has surrounded the club lately.

There is nothing quite like a good victory for chasing away the blues, which is exactly what Joe Jordan hopes his players will do in Glasgow and, when you think about it, it's time Hearts were making more of an impression in the premier division.

They have played 14 games so far in this campaign and have won only three, leaving them nine points off leaders Rangers and only two in front of St Mirren, who are still feeling their way around in the basement.

Too many Hearts' fans still remember the dark days when they dropped into the first division and hanging around near the premier-division trapdoor makes them jittery.

They would be mighty grateful if McPherson and company put some more space between themselves and the bottom area.

Jordan's return to Scotland has not been as productive as he would have liked, but he realises the thought of playing against Rangers in front of a full house often brings the best out of players and, although he was being as cautious as ever when discussing the match, he knows how beneficial a win at Ibrox could be.

This is the first time he has prepared his team to play Rangers and he must know he might not have a better opportunity to beat them.

The Ibrox side's injury problems are beginning to ease and Richard Gough, who had the stitches removed from the foot which has been troubling him for longer than a year now, should be able to play by this time next week.

It is likely Trevor Steven and Ian Ferguson will not be far away from that game either, so today's match could be the last one in which Graeme Souness has to field a makeshift team.

Despite their severe injury problems, Rangers emerged with maximum points from a spell in which they faced three difficult away games -- against Motherwell, Dunfermline, and Celtic -- and they were successful because they resisted any temptation to take a highbrow approach and simply rolled up their sleeves.

Now, when it comes to gritting the teeth and getting stuck in, there are few better than Hearts.

Their game has been based on sweaty endeavour, just the sort of stuff we have been watching from Rangers recently.

It could be quite a meeting in Ibrox where Souness was stressing it would be wrong of any of his players or their supporters to believe the hard part was completed with last Sunday's win over Celtic.

He is well aware of how difficult life can be against Hearts, although they are concerned about the fitness of John Robertson and John Colquhoun.

Both will be checked out before the match, but Scott Crabbe and Iain Ferguson are standing by.

Souness will not alter his team much and, although football without thought is not his ideal, he will settle for one more battling display in the hope of having some of the more subtle professionals back in business against St Johnstone next week, when he can revert to a more studied type of play.

Paul McStay, one of the most thoughtful players in the business, will still be idle when Celtic tackle Hibernian at Easter Road.

The midfield player's skills and influence are being missed, but even so the manager, Billy McNeill, will not risk McStay's well-being.

"Until I'm sure the gamble will not be too great, Paul won't play," he said.

Celtic will also be without Joe Miller, who has aggravated an old wrist injury and is now wearing a plaster.

The winger will be sidelined for a couple of weeks and McNeill has brought back into his squad Mike Galloway and Dariusz Dziekanowski.

"Dariusz has found the demands of our game difficult," said McNeill, "but he can play.

There's no doubt that when he's fresh and lively he can play."

The Parkhead side's problems have been well documented and, like Hearts, they are in need of a morale boosting result.

"A win would give us the opportunity to hold on to the coat tails of those in front," McNeill added.

He believes his team have to prove the whole world wrong, but it is at times like this, he points out, when a manager hopes to see the positive sides of players' characters.

His counterpart at Easter Road, Alex Miller, is hoping his players can find a degree of consistency and he is looking to Keith Houchen, who scored last week against Hearts, to give the team another lift.

The Englishman's goal in the Edinburgh derby was his first since last August and Miller believes it could be the first of many.

There are no striking problems at Pittodrie, where Alex Smith was saying it looks as though Hans Gillhaus is regaining his best form, which does nothing to ease Dunfermline's anxieties.

By all accounts Smith's team were superb last week and the manager expects them to continue scoring goals when Dunfermline stop by this afternoon.

The East End Park side's Yugoslavian defender Milos Drizic is unhappy about having been relegated to the reserves, pointing out that, until arriving at Dunfermline, he had never known anything other than first-team football.

The 29-year-old, signed in the close season for £250,000, believes his record speaks for itself, but in the premier division past achievements count for nothing.

"I'm going to speak to Milos about making his views public," said manager Iain Munro.

"He has had a run of injuries.

I won't risk him before he is ready."

However, earlier in the season Munro said Drizic was having problems adapting to Scottish football.

Elsewhere, St Mirren, who are having a dreadful time, and St Johnstone are at home to Dundee United and Motherwell respectively.

St Johnstone yesterday signed 29-year-old striker Kenny Macdonald for £50,000 from Raith Rovers and he will be in today's squad.

Taken from the Herald