Lawrence Shankland targets Rangers ‘opportunity’ after Hearts ‘feeling of regret’
Lawrence Shankland admits there is “definitely opportunity” for Hearts to take advantage of the recent struggles at Rangers in their Scottish Cup semi final at Hampden.
The Jambos captain hopes to use “clues” unearthed by the Light Blues’ recent opponents, with Philippe Clement’s side having failed to beat Dundee, Ross County, Celtic, Benfica and Motherwell since the start of March, with their only victories coming in the league and cup over Hibs.
And after falling at the same stage of the Viaplay Cup against the Gers in on 5 November the Scotland international wants to avoid the feelings of “regret” his side felt coming off the pitch after that game.
He said, via the Daily Record (19 April): “There is a lot of pressure on the game, for both teams. Rangers’ last two results will add to that due to the scrutiny they will be under in the league. We can maybe use it to our advantage and if the pressure increases throughout the game it could help us. But it is not something we can go and rely on, we need to put our game plan.
“They’ve not become a bad team overnight. But there is definitely opportunity there and you need to analyse how teams have caused them problems and see if you can implement that in the game at the weekend and if you can it can give you a chance.
“Of course, it is better to play them now rather than when they are firing on all cylinders but I wouldn’t act as if it is going to be an easier game than it would usually be. Obviously some teams have had success against them recently. There might be some clues there for us to look at and analyse.”
On the November defeat he added: “The feeling of regret when you came off the pitch was probably the biggest thing. We felt like we didn’t really give it a go. Whether that be down to our game plan not working or just didn’t feel right or it was a wee bit off.
“I think that is the first thing we will look to improve on. Try and put a bit of a stamp on the game and give ourselves a chance of going through. We felt as a group we didn’t give ourselves the best chance that day.”
Lawrence Shankland targets end to Rangers cup hopes
The season is in danger of fizzling out extremely disappointingly at Ibrox, when at one point the Viaplay Cup which Clement’s men breezed past Shankland for earlier this season was looking like the start of a stunning trophy haul.
There remains an outside chance that it could but after the recent run of form there is precious little confidence in that happening compared to a couple of months ago, including, it has been claimed, from within the squad.
Shankland himself has been heavily linked to a Rangers switch for months, and after the wheels came off the title charge, which is just about still on life support for now, it is now increasingly looking like the failure to sign a striker in his mould during January has cost them.
But it is arguably the issues in defence that are of even greater concern currently, especially with Ridvan Yilmaz’s injury keeping him out far longer than hoped, and it is there that Shankland will be a major threat.
It has been suggested that a summer move for the man who has 28 goals to his name this season is still on the cards, but until then he will be looking to end the Gers’ hopes of adding a second cup this term.
He’s right that there looks to be as good an opportunity to strike against Rangers than there has been since Michael Beale was sacked, and without a huge turnaround from the flagging Ibrox squad the striker could make it clear what the club is missing at Hampden this weekend.
In other Rangers news, as many as 15 Light Blues players could be on the way out in a “huge” clear-out by the manager.
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