Regroup, refocus and redouble efforts is Rangers coach Ally McCoist’s rally call for Hearts crunch

ALLY McCOIST has warned Rangers they will need to be at their best to beat Hearts despite the Tynecastle club's crippling injury and suspension problems.

The Gers can move to the top of the SPL table if they win at Ibrox tomorrow as leaders Celtic play Dundee United at Tannadice on Sunday.

And with Jambos boss Csaba Laszlo missing key men, including Larry Kingston, Janos Balogh and Andy Driver, many home fans are expecting a straightforward victory.

However, assistant manager McCoist still remembers the costly 2-1 defeat Rangers suffered at Tynecastle back in November and reckons his men are in for a difficult afternoon.

He said: "Yes, Hearts have got a few injuries. Driver especially is a good player for them and will be missed. But they tend to play a 4-5-1 formation against us and won't be easy to break down.

"Bruno Aguiar is a good passer and a good user of the ball. They have good players as we have found to our cost already this season.

"The goals we lost at Tynecastle in our 2-1 defeat to Hearts earlier this season, both of which came from set-pieces, were disappointing. "

He went on: "We felt we didn't really lay a glove on Hearts either and create much ourselves. The warning signs are there. If you do sit back they will punish you and score goals against you. Hopefully, though, we have learned from that."

Despite being at Rangers for the best part of 20 years as a player and a coach, losing cup finals is not an experience McCoist is familiar with.

In the League Cup, in particular, the legendary Gers striker is more used to success than failure; he won it on a record nine occasions in his illustrious playing days.

That's why the Gers No.2 is still hurting so much following the agonising extra-time defeat to Celtic in the Co-op Insurance-sponsored competition at Hampden on Sunday.

Yet, McCoist has revealed he intends to channel the pain he is feeling in a positive manner.

And he is hoping his players do exactly the same thing and go on and win a Clydesdale Bank Premier League and Homecoming Scottish Cup double this season.

He said: "Obviously, this is a new feeling for me. But I'll tell you, it doesn't do you any harm.

"I will learn a lot from it and I hope the boys do too. It is not a nice feeling. You have to take one or two of these to appreciate the good ones."

McCoist added: "The boys have obviously been a bit down, but we can't sit around moping. That is the one thing you can't do.

"We have a great game to look forward to in the league against Hearts at home and we have a league and cup double that we can go and win. So, the sooner we get those thoughts in our heads the better.

"The boys have had a couple of days off to recover. Sunday took an awful lot out of them. But we will be absolutely brand new and ready for tomorrow and what promises to be a tough game.

"We have to get ourselves back up if we want to win the league title. We are well in the hunt for it and have a great chance of winning it.

"We're not going to do that sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves worrying about a game we can do nothing about.

"We have to regroup, which we will do. We are playing a team which will be smarting after coming off a derby defeat themselves. They have given us tough games in the past and I have no doubt tomorrow will be exactly the same."

Speaking on RTV, McCoist continued: "We, as professional coaches, managers and players, owe it to ourselves and the fans to get our sleeves rolled up, forget about last week and go out and win the game.

"I have learned at this place that you don't dwell on defeats. There is always a big game around the corner. We have a massive game against Hearts and the opportunity to go to the top of the league. Bring it on.

"We will be needled by losing the cup game and have a great incentive to go to the top of the league."