As Rangers hope to retain the Scottish Premiership momentum, it’s all eyes on Celtic, Hearts, and one Lawrence Shankland.
Rangers succumbed to a shock 2-1 defeat against Motherwell at Ibrox Stadium which meant the Gers blew the chance to go five points clear in the Premiership.
A result a quite remarkable 27 years in the making, Motherwell last defeating Rangers at Ibrox on league duties in 1997, it’s a sore one for Philippe Clement’s side to take.
With Celtic now having the shot to top the Scottish Premiership on their trip to Hearts, Rangers-linked Jambos talisman Lawrence Shankland will be looking to stop them.
Lawrence Shankland to be Rangers hero?
In what would be quite ironic given the extensive links to Rangers in January, the Ibrox side are now relying on Lawrence Shankland and his Hearts teammates to stop Celtic overtaking them at the top.
Rangers blew a host of chances to win the game at Ibrox with a mounting injury list in the forward areas further blunting Philippe Clement’s attack.
Heading into the January window a proper number nine in the mould of Lawrence Shankland was on the wishlist of the Rangers fans but such an option never arrived.
In the last few weeks the Gers have been able to find a ruthless streak but, once again when it matters, several of the club’s stuttering strikers failed to deliver.
How ironic then that Lawrence Shankland – a player whom Rangers were priced out of signing in January – could help soften the blow of Motherwell’s victory.
With a stunning 26 goals this season – two of which have come v Celtic – the Hearts talisman is tasked with cutting down Celtic and we’re sure the boyhood bluenose is focused on doing just that.
If the 28-year-old can do so, then you can be rest-assured those whistles around a summer move to Ibrox might just get louder.
Celtic can wrestle back Scottish Premiership momentum
Rangers have built up a head of steam with eleven straight wins heading into the Motherwell defeat and the true test will be how this under fire squad bounce back in the coming matches .
Momentum is everything in football and when pressure begins to mount things can quickly snowball with a Celtic victory over Hearts sure to twist the knife into the Rangers team.
Having battled back from seven points behind to reclaim top spot from Celtic, the idea that their lead has only lasted a couple of weeks will once again raise questions surrounding this team’s title mentality.
Should our Old Firm rivals overcome Hearts at Tynecastle, then they will take the top spot and all the impetus in the Premiership as we head into the final nine games.
There will be plenty of twists and turns to come but there’s no hiding the fact such a scenario would be a monumental blow to Rangers.
Step forward, Lawrence Shankland.
