Rangers: BBC Sport pundit makes Old Firm ‘conspiracy theorists’ claim after Scottish Cup draw
Hearts might have to beat both Rangers and Celtic to win the Scottish Cup, according to BBC Sport pundit Ryan Stevenson.
The verdict comes after the Jambos were drawn against the Ibrox club in the semi-finals of the competition, with the Gers having beaten Hibernian 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
Celtic will face Aberdeen in the other semi-final, with the matches taking place at Hampden Park in mid-April.
“If you had asked any Hearts player or member of staff, and the same with Aberdeen, they would have hoped to have gotten each other, and let Rangers and Celtic fight it out, and let Twitter meltdown, and all the conspiracy theorists and all that, so I think they would have been more than happy to have played each other,” Stevenson said on the Scottish Football Podcast (12 March).
“But if you’re going to win the cup, you’re going to have to inevitably beat one of the Old Firm, so they might need to beat the two of them.
“But I think the form Hearts are in, the way they are playing now, if they play well and Rangers are maybe a bit tired and do have an off-day, they can most certainly beat them.”
Can Rangers overcome Hearts in Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park?
Hearts had been on a superb run under Steven Naismith, but that was brought to an abrupt halt by Philippe Clement’s side at Ibrox last month.
The hosts stormed to a 5-0 Scottish Premiership win, with that result certain to play on the minds of the Hearts players at Hampden.
But the semi-final clash will be a different affair entirely, with a major cup on the line, while there will be plenty more Hearts fans in attendance than there were at Ibrox.
Both clubs do, however, have plenty of big matches to get through before the highly-anticipated clash at the national stadium, which will also host the final at the end of May.
In the other semi, Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic have it all to do against Aberdeen, although the holders will be favourites to come out on top in that clash.
In other Rangers news, a Gers debut is surely close for one youngster as a Borna Barisic competition claim is made.
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