IT is said that you are only ever a couple of games away from a crisis at Rangers. Mark Warburton will hope the next three fixtures help him avert a Premiership disaster.
The matches with Hearts and Aberdeen in the coming days have stood out on the schedule for a while now and Rangers head to Tynecastle tonight aiming to earn a third successive league win for the first time this term.
Victory in the Capital would be a major boost for Rangers, and if they could follow it up with home wins against their two nearest rivals it would undoubtedly ease the pressure at Ibrox. That is the ideal scenario for Warburton as he looks for his side to make a statement of their intent and extend their advantage in the battle to be best of the rest.
A run of adverse results would put Rangers on the back foot, both in terms of the top flight table and in the eyes of supporters that have become increasingly frustrated this season. For skipper Lee Wallace, it is a chance to take considerable steps in the right direction, but the focus is firmly fixed on the Jambos to ensure they get a crucial few days off on the right footing.
“We are really looking forward to them,” he said. “These are the games you want to play. We know the tussle between these three teams for second place at this stage – so we’re really looking forward to it.
“Hearts will be tough opponents as we say each week. They’ll be well set up, well organised and they will be hungry to try and play a top opponent in us. We’re looking to keep our momentum up, to stay in second place and then look to move forward.
“It will be an electric one. The three games that are coming up are the exciting ones, the ones we want to play in. We know these are the games more often than not we will be judged on and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
The task is considerable for Rangers but the rewards could be significant. By the time the final whistle blows at Ibrox next Saturday, more will be known about where Warburton’s side are and where they can get to this season.
The gap to Celtic, who have played two fewer games, is eight points. That is not the concern at present, though, as Rangers eye more progress on the park.
“You know how we work in here, we are always going to talk about the next game,” Wallace said. “We will be as competitive as we can and we will never change our mind set when we are asked what our ambitions and aspirations are for the end of the season.
“We always want to remain as competitive as we can and that obviously starts [tonight]. We know we have got the three games. That cluster of games starts [tonight] and hopefully we can get three points and then move on and take it from there.”
After falling well off the title pace being set by Celtic in the first few weeks of the campaign, Rangers have embarked on a recovery mission in recent outings. The last-gasp wins over Dundee and Partick Thistle helped move Warburton’s side up to second spot in the standings and now they have a chance to extend that advantage in the coming days.
If Rangers are to emerge victorious at Tynecastle tonight, they will have to display that same attitude and mentality in the heat of battle.
“Historically, Hearts away is one of the toughest fixtures for anyone,” Wallace said. “I can’t say now, obviously, as we’ve not been back for a couple of years, although we played initial games when I signed which we won.
“But, historically, I knew from a home player there the atmosphere and environment was superb. Hearts have a great set of fans and we’re hoping for an electric one on Wednesday night.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel