Rangers travel to Hearts in the Scottish Cup knowing anything other than a victory will turn up the pressure on Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard.
Toiling in the league and having fallen at the final hurdle of the Betfred Cup, for many the William Hill Scottish Cup is the club’s only realistic chance of silverware.
Opponents Hearts have proven a tricky test this season at Tynecastle – but does their woeful defensive record suggest we’ve nothing to fear this afternoon?
In the run-up to the 2-1 defeat at Tynecastle in January, the nervousness in the Ibrox support was palpable.
We were still on our holidays and there was a feeling Hearts would be buoyed by new signings and a new approach.
It came to fruition with midfielder Tony Sibbick putting in a superb debut shift and striker Liam Boyce scoring the winner on his first appearance in a 2-1 win.
But things feel different now and Hearts will be disappointed they never used that Rangers performance as a springboard in the league table.
Currently toiling at the bottom of the pile, the Edinburgh club have shipped an extraordinary 13 goals in five matches Since playing Rangers in late January.
Their only win in that spell came in the last round of the Scottish Cup, an unconvincing victory over League One Falkirk.
The Rangers victory remains their only Scottish Premiership win under German boss Stendel [Hearts]
In short, it’s been utterly woeful from the Maroon side of Edinburgh.
Whilst there is always the threat that Hearts will step up and be counted against Rangers, the Ibrox side has no reason to doubt themselves going into this tie.
IF we show up.
