The boot is on the other foot now as Rangers close gap on Hearts

WHEN Rangers last visited Tynecastle there was intrigue in Hearts validating their title credentials by passing their first Old Firm challenge. The vanquished visitors slipped 11 points behind the league leaders and trailed Celtic by six. The latter are now out of sight while Hearts are well within range for Rangers who trailed them by 16 points before Christmas.

Back in September there was a fascination over how Hearts would cope with Rangers. There is the same curiosity with the fixture this time round but the dynamic has altered and many imagine that the result might be different too.

"We've just got to keep the momentum going," says the Rangers manager Alex McLeish, whose team followed up their commendable performance in Villarreal with a dominant display against Kilmarnock at Ibrox. "I said I felt in my bones that it would be different than after previous European trips. I didn't feel there would be any hangover or mental tiredness because of our performance in Villarreal and the players took that into the Kilmarnock game." On the same day Hearts struggled in Inverness albeit with mitigating weather conditions. "Our form has been good and the confidence is good," says McLeish, which is not a statement he's been prone to making this season in Scottish football.

McLeish is asked if a Champions League qualifying place might mean more to Hearts as they've never experienced the competition. "I couldn't argue with the Hearts people feeling that way," replies the Rangers manager. Whether he hooks the Euro prize or not, he knows that the Rangers players remaining at the club next season under new manager Paul Le Guen will not wish to countenance the absence of Champions League football. "Our players have enjoyed the European experience this season," says McLeish. "We've set the yardstick for future Rangers teams and future Scottish teams."

Today's encounter will be Rangers' first since the official announcement on Le Guen's summer arrival and club chairman David Murray has been emphasising this week that the new manager is appraising the current Rangers squad with a view to deciding who stays or goes next season.

But for the man still in the post, the players have to place demands on themselves and not be overly concerned about doing the outgoing coach a favour or currying favour with his eventual replacement.

McLeish says: "Players have said 'we'll get the Champions League spot and give the manager a good send off' or whatever but they have to keep playing for their own pride.

"When you are at a club like this the demands are that you play consistently well every single game, and it doesn't matter who the manager is. I know that myself. I lost good managers in the past and I've praised them but come the weekend I just had to make sure that I kept my own high standards. If there is motivation there for players to be part of Rangers' future then that's an added incentive."

McLeish has no major fitness worries for today. On top of the availability of all there are the increased capabilities being shown by those in the Rangers shirt. Julien Rodriguez lasted 35 minutes of the September Tynecastle defeat before McLeish abandoned his ill-fated three centre-backs set-up and reverted to a back four.

Recently Rodriguez has been one of Rangers' most assured performers and the Frenchmen will face Hearts with confidence. Captain Barry Ferguson appears re-invigorated and Kris Boyd has struck in his last three league outings.

Boyd is currently keeping magnificent company in the European Golden Shoe rankings. He has overtaken Andrei Shevchenko and has Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy in his sights. Boyd still has some plundering to do if he is going to overhaul the Fiorentina striker Luca Toni but if he regularly hits the target in Rangers' remaining games, the young striker has a reasonable chance of emulating Henrik Larsson's achievement of five years ago. Mimicking Ibrox poaching legend Ally McCoist, who twice won the prize in the early 1990s, would definitely give Boyd something to declare. "When you watch his movement in the box he has that tremendous instinct which strikers with a good goal-scoring prowess seem to have," says McLeish when mention is made of Boyd's prominence in the Euro goal charts. As well as his January acquisition, the Rangers manager can throw Dado Prso and Peter Lovenkrands at Hearts and see how the hosts cope. Regarding the possible Hearts selection, McLeish is not anticipating many surprises. "Graham Rix has a hell of a squad to choose from but personnel-wise we know what to expect."

And can Rangers win their remaining games to grasp second place? "That's achievable. It's certainly what our target would be. We know that there are difficult games ahead - some really hard ones away - but if we continue in this vein of form and if we can put pressure on Hearts by taking the three points then it will be an interesting finale." Of course there is the possibility that Hearts could hold a huge nine-point advantage over Rangers at 2.15pm today. "I don't want to talk that way," responds McLeish "but I don't think it would be insurmountable if things don't go our way because there are loads of head-to-heads still to come. We've proved capable in the past of coming from behind and we've handled the heat.

"This'll be a tough trip to a tough venue. There is great incentive there for both sides."

For Rangers, a giant initiative can be stolen from Hearts.

Taken from the Scotsman