We have to make sure Gers don't take loss out on us

PAUL KIDDIE

THE fact that Rangers’ season is already over will make them even tougher opponents tomorrow, according to Hearts star Andy Webster.

Alex McLeish’s fallen idols saw the Tennent’s Scottish Cup wrenched from their grasp by Celtic last weekend, the Parkhead defeat completing a season of misery for the Glasgow giants.

Hibs have already dumped the Ibrox side out of the CIS Cup and with Martin O’Neill’s record-breaking Celts currently boasting a daunting 16-point lead at the top of the SPL, McLeish has already turned his thoughts towards next season.

With that in mind, the Gers chief has wasted little time in swinging the axe, with Portuguese striker Nuno Capucho, Brazilian Emerson and German midfielder Christian Nerlinger having all been told they no longer have a future at the club, despite their contracts running until the summer of 2005.

With other first-team stars such as Henning Berg, Egil Ostenstaad, Michael Mols and the De Boer twins also unlikely to be around next season, McLeish will use the remaining weeks of the season - Rangers have 12 games left to play - to blood some of his younger stars and promote a number of fringe players.

While some observers may believe that could hand Hearts an advantage in tomorrow’s Gorgie showdown, Webster isn’t so sure, the Scotland stopper insisting the Light Blues will, if nothing else, head along the M8 with a point to prove.

"It’s sod’s law that we are facing Rangers after they have been knocked out of the Scottish Cup," he said.

"People are saying their season is over but they will still come to Tynecastle wanting to do well.

"Their pride will have been hurt last weekend and in a way that may make tomorrow’s match even more difficult.

"There is a lot of pride at stake for them and that’s why they will be very tough opponents. Whoever plays for Rangers will want to do well and we will have to be ready for a tough challenge."

While recent performances against the men from Govan have generally improved - Hearts should have taken something from Ibrox earlier this season after Andy Kirk opened the scoring - the Jambos recent league record is pretty dismal, with Rangers going into tomorrow’s encounter unbeaten in 21 SPL matches against the Tynecastle outfit.

Fans have to go back almost six years to Dick Advocaat’s first game in charge of Rangers in August 1998 for their last taste of victory over tomorrow’s opponents when goals from Stephane Adam and Jim Hamilton securing a 2-1 triumph.

But despite their poor record, Webster maintains there is no reason why Hearts should be going into the game with any sort of inferiority complex.

"We are confident of performing against either side of the Old Firm," he said. "Obviously if they play to their capabilities they will probably beat us.

"But we shouldn’t go out at Tynecastle in fear of them. We are at home in front of our own fans and hopefully we can come away with the points."

There have been some noises within the Gorgie camp of third-placed Hearts trying to overhaul the Ibrox side before the end of the season. But with the gap currently standing at 12 points with Rangers having a game in hand, Webster is reluctant to go down that particular road.

"We just have to concentrate on our own game and doing our own jobs properly," he said.

"We have to look to get the points which we should be picking up and then see what happens.

"It is quite a big gap to close and our priority has to be firstly ensuring that we make third place in the table ours. I am sure both teams will be up for it tomorrow and both looking for a win."

The 21-year-old turned in another impressive display at the centre of the Hearts defence in Sunday’s 0-0 draw against Kilmarnock.

Shorn of the experience and steadying influence of skipper Steven Pressley, boss Craig Levein turned to the former Arbroath stopper to help Christophe Berra through his first start for the club, a responsibility he shouldered with apparent ease.

And with the club captain struggling to overcome the effects of the stomach bug which ruled him out of the trip to Rugby Park, Webster will be another key figure in the Jambos rearguard tomorrow afternoon.

"Christophe came and did really well and he is certainly one for the future," he said. "He had played a couple of times as a substitute for the first team and I’d also seen him in action for the under-21s so I knew what he was capable of and the gaffer obviously had no qualms about playing him against Kilmarnock.

"With Elvis not making it, I was asked to be the one to communicate things at the back.

"Alan Maybury was the captain but it was perhaps easier for me to do it being in the centre of defence rather than from his position of right-back.

"I enjoyed it and I thought we did well as a team to limit the chances Killie had on the day."

Webster netted his first league goal of the season when he put Hearts ahead in Ayrshire and they looked set to carve open a 12-point lead over nearest rivals Dunfermline as the match entered its closing stages.

However, Kilmarnock snatched a point courtesy of Danny Invincibile’s 87th-minute header, the loss of the goal all the more frustrating for Levein coming as it did from a corner.

Despite their initial disappointment at the late setback, the players took some satisfaction from stretching their unbeaten league run to seven games, a record they will be determined to keep intact tomorrow.

"From my point of view I think I could have done better as their goal came from a set piece," added Webster.

"But it was another important point away from home following on from East End Park and the win at Livingston and means we have a handy gap of ten points over Dunfermline now.

"It also kept our recent run going which means we can go into the Rangers game tomorrow with confidence."

Taken from the Scotsman