WHILE no sane observer could argue a league game is more significant than a cup final, both Hearts and Rangers rightly feel the outcome of tomorrow's encounter carries enough consequence not to be entirely overshadowed by Celtic's meeting with Dunfermline in the CIS Insurance showpiece at Hampden. As Graham Rix, the Hearts head coach, observed yesterday: "If we win, the psychological boost would be really important for us."

Currently six points ahead of Rangers in second place, Hearts know they face a pivotal moment in their quest to qualify for the Champions League next season. If they defeat Rangers, the gap extends to nine points and Alex McLeish's men will have their work cut out to finish second. On the other hand, should Rangers win in Gorgie and trim the margin between the sides to just three, then momentum will swing the way of the champions.

Since Steven Pressley, Edgar Jankauskas, Julien Brellier and Rudi Skacel are all set to return after missing the stalemate at Inverness last week, Rix can deal a strong hand tomorrow. As the enforcer in Hearts' midfield, it's Brellier's positional sense, as well as his tackling, which helps to control the ebb and flow of games. When the Frenchman adds discipline to steel - and the number of games he spends watching from the stand suggests this feature of his game needs to be improved - Hearts play their best football.

"What happened [at Tannadice, when he was ordered off] was a mistake," said Brellier. "Now I just want to come back and play normally. My football is aggressive. I don't think I want to change the way I play football. What I need to do is be careful about the yellow cards."

With Brellier in front of a back four of Robbie Neilson, Pressley, Andy Webster and Takis Fyssas, Hearts are secure enough to allow Paul Hartley, Skacel and Deividas Cesnauskis to push on.

Since the majority of his strongest squad are contenders for tomorrow's game, perhaps the toughest problem Rix has to solve is whether to play 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. Hearts' best recent performance was the 4-1 win over Hibs when Rix played with a lone striker and encouraged Hartley and Skacel to support the centre-forward. If he thinks the same will work against Rangers, Rix could leave out Calum Elliot and ask either Bruno Aguiar or Lee Johnson to sit in beside Brellier.

Taken from the Scotsman