McLEISH: 'DEFEAT WOULD HURT'

Rangers manager Alex McLeish insists their hopes of retaining the Bank of Scotland Premier League championship would not be damaged beyond repair if they fall 11 points behind Hearts.

That is the grim reality facing the Scottish champions if they fail to bring a halt to the Jambos' 100% league record at Tynecastle.

Former Ibrox boss Bill Struth once famously proclaimed: "Let the others come after us. We welcome the chase."

Now Rangers find themselves doing the chasing.

McLeish admits the pressure already being shouldered by his players would multiply if they cannot use the meeting with Hearts to drag themselves back into the title race.

But he refuses to push the panic button so early in the campaign.

"The league is not won in September," McLeish stated. "There is a long way to go and a lot of hard games to play and there will be points dropped.

"One thing is for sure - we've got to start taking points off Hearts.

"Falling 11 points behind would put a lot of pressure on us in terms of catching up.

"We're capable of doing it - we've done it in the past - but I would like to think we can give Hearts problems and something to think about over the coming weeks."

Hearts' unlikely status as SPL leaders means the trip to Tynecastle officially falls into the "big game" category and McLeish was quick to point out how well Rangers have performed in those matches this season.

They defeated Anorthosis Famagusta, Celtic and Porto when the stakes were high and confidence in Rangers was low and McLeish sees no reason why that trend should not continue against Hearts.

He added: "There is extra pressure but I think you only have to look at how we have handled the bigger games. We have done well.

"The irony is that the games we were expected to do better in we have under-achieved and hopefully that will be significant."

McLeish has been impressed by how well Hearts manager George Burley has improved upon what was already a solid squad he inherited in the summer.

But the Rangers boss believes Hearts will already be starting to doubt their own ability to maintain the high standards they have set for themselves this season.

And McLeish will be more than happy to see Rangers play a part in transforming those niggling doubts into full-blown concerns for the campaign.

He said: "They are a good side. They have a great solid base, which George inherited, and the players he has built around that unit have been very impressive.

"When you go on a run like they have you start wondering when you will drop points and you start to have wee doubts. It's only human and we hope we can put the doubts in their head tomorrow for the next part of the campaign.

"We still feel we have a big say in where the championship will go and we want to try to prove that tomorrow."

Taken from sportinglife.com