Garang Kuol is gone and Hearts look more fragile now than when they last visited Ibrox. Nonetheless, the Edinburgh club still derive confidence from drawing 2-2 there against Rangers in May.
Kuol, the teenage Australian striker, scored a 90th-minute equaliser that night in the last act of a five-month loan from Newcastle United. He is now on loan at Dutch Eredivisie side Volendam, whilst Hearts are still striving to reach full potential as they prepare to face Rangers again.
Steven Naismith, interim head coach in May, is now in charge permanently. He believes aspects of the last trip to Govan can stand his team in good stead in Glasgow this Sunday.
“The way the game can go and flow, we were good in possession at times in that game. We didn’t let them trap us and then just kick it long. We didn’t just defend in our own box,” he recalled. “There was loads of control within the game, even out of possession. There was no panic and that’s a big thing.
“If there is a panic there, you are inevitably going to give away good chances. With the quality Rangers have, they will punish you. That was a good experience for us last season. We do have quite a few new players so the dynamic changes a bit. You really need to understand what you are going in to. We have highlighted that to those players this week.”
He is conscious over which summer signings will be given the responsibility of handling the 50,000-strong crowd and intimidating Ibrox atmosphere. “The type of game it’s going to be and the atmosphere definitely comes into your thinking. It’s not about only putting a certain amount of new signings in [because it’s a new experience]. It’s about their character and how they deal with it.
“It depends what stage players are at in their careers, where they have played in the past and that sort of thing. You need to have an understanding that, at moments in these games, your decision-making is so important.
“We don’t need to score every time we go forward. There are times to have control. If you’ve been defending for five minutes, it’s not a case of trying to thread something through their defence or a long 40-yard diagonal that might come off. It’s about understanding game management the whole way through the game.”
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