Danny Rohl now in ‘jungle warfare’ at Rangers ahead of Hearts showdown
Danny Rohl has been told his Rangers side are in “jungle warfare” ahead of their crunch clash with Hearts on Sunday.
Rangers had the chance to cut Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts’ lead at the top to three points when they travelled to Motherwell on Wednesday.
Despite taking the lead and Well going down to 10 men late on, the underdogs scored right at the end of the contest to secure an unlikely 1-1 draw.
Ahead of Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash at Ibrox, former Sheffield Wednesday boss Rohl is under huge pressure to beat Derek McInnes‘ Hearts and keep Rangers’ title hopes alive.
And according to Hugh Keevins, Rangers can ill afford any more slip-ups if they want to finish top of the pile this season.
Rangers’ Motherwell draw was not in the script
Rangers looked well on their way to claim another important victory at fourth-placed Motherwell in midweek after Nico Raskin’s sixth-minute opener.
But despite taking that early lead, Motherwell, arguably, deserved their equaliser as they had a slightly higher expected goals tally, as well as mustering more shots on goal and on target.
Rangers – who struggled with Tawanda Maswanhise – also had a man advantage after Lukas Fadinger’s 78th-minute dismissal, but Stephen Welsh’s 89th-minute equaliser ensured honours ended even.
Now, according to Keevins, it is “jungle warfare” time as Rangers try to reel in this season’s surprise leaders, Hearts.
In the print edition of the Sunday Mail, he wrote: “Hearts had a 13-point lead over Rangers when Danny Rohl took control at Ibrox.
“All of that was supposed to evaporate, and the teams were on course to be level pegging by this evening in the event of a home win. Until Motherwell rewrote the route map on Wednesday night. Now it’s jungle warfare time for Rohl.”
Rangers face a do-or-die test against leaders Hearts
If you take the last six league fixtures into account, Rangers are still the Scottish Premiership’s form team with four wins and two draws.
Hearts have picked up 13 points in that run, as have third-placed Celtic – who have a game in hand on both teams.
The Jambos have seen their gap at the top cut significantly since Rohl came in at Rangers in October, but they are proving difficult to usurp at the top amid a stellar season.
Hearts have beaten Rangers twice this season, the first of which was a 2-0 win at Ibrox on 13 September, and the second was on 21 December when they edged out a 2-1 victory at Tynecastle Park.
Rangers are a much-improved side now, but if they don’t win this game, their hopes of claiming a first league title since 2021 are likely to be over.
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