Hearts boss Steven Naismith has had his say on the Rangers ticket allocation

Rangers: Steven Naismith sends Hearts message before Hampden Park showdown

Jonny is a University of Leeds journalism graduate who became part of the FootballInsider team in Spring 2024, and recently worked as Head of Media for Widnes Vikings Rugby League club. Writing as a freelance reporter and commentator for The Sporting News and StatsPerform, he has covered matches in competitions including the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cups, as well as the Champions League, Women's Euro 2022, Six Nations and the Rugby Union World Cup.

Published on:

18 Apr 2024, 4:14 pm

Rangers go into their Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts without a win in their past two matches, and Hearts manager Steven Naismith admits he understands the pressure facing Philippe Clement.

The Gers have seen their bid to chase down Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership go awry in the past few days, suffering a shock 3-2 loss at Ross County before drawing 0-0 with Dundee.

Clement's side now face Hearts with a chance to reach the Scottish Cup final, but Naismith is preparing to hatch an upset at Hampden Park on 21 April.

Speaking to The Daily Record, Naismith said: "It's all about moments in games. We need to be better in possession than we have done in games against Rangers recently, as if we are we can cause them a lot of problems. We believe we'll go into the game with a good plan to win it."

Rangers must heed Naismith warning to avoid Hearts upset

Rangers have the best chance possible to put a woeful week behind them, and defeating Hearts in their Scottish Cup semi-final would not only leave them 90 minutes away from another trophy but would also restore the confidence needed to re-ignite their title charge.

With the chance to overcome Celtic's four-point buffer at the summit with their two games in hand, Rangers instead took one point from a possible six, collapsing in spectacular style to lose at Ross County before a stalemate at Dens Park.

Philippe Clement's Rangers missed out on the chance to overtake Celtic prior to the 33-game split.

Naismith, who played for five seasons at Inbox between 2007 and 2012, knows the magnitude of responsibility currently upon Rangers' squad and will be hoping to use that experience to his advantage.

However, Clement and his under-fire side have the perfect chance to use the big-game pressure to their advantage at Hampden Park. Away from the pressure cooker of Ibrox, but still with a huge majority of fans in blue, white and red, the stage may well be set for Rangers to get their season back on track.

In other Rangers news, Tam McManus mocked the club on social media after their draw with Dundee.

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Philippe Clement