Three burning Rangers issues as Hearts look to pile on misery

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is a manager under pressure with Sunday’s defeat to St Johnstone meaning they trail Premiership leaders Celtic by seven points.

It’s the penultimate game before the league shuts down for the World Cup break which may come at a welcome time given the raft of injuries that have ravaged the playing squad.

Here are the three big issues facing the Light Blues ahead of the clash.

Can van Bronckhorst turn it around?

The Dutchman is quickly losing what little belief remains from the supporters that he can guide the club out of the current slump. Sunday’s 2-1 reverse in Perth was the ninth defeat of the season and there are growing calls for a managerial change. What we do know is there are no immediate plans to remove van Bronckhorst so he has to find a way to get the fans back onside. The surest way to do so is by winning football matches. The standard of football on display has been a tough watch at times with a feeling that results have caught up with below-par performances. With two massive games before the World Cup break, he has to acquire maximum points to avoid more fans from turning against him. He would be right to cite the fact injuries have severely hampered his squad but there is still enough quality within the pool to be performing better than what is currently being served up. He needs results and with Celtic boasting what is effectively an eight-point lead given they have a superior goal difference then there is no margin for error. Whether he can mastermind what would be an incredible recovery to win the title remains to be seen but he simply cannot afford to lose any more ground.

Who replaces Fashion Sakala?

It never rains but it pours when it comes to Rangers and injuries this season. As well as the poor result on Sunday, the sorry sight of Fashion Sakala limping off with a hamstring injury added to their woes. The Zambian had earned his crack at playing on the right-hand side of the front three in what has been a problematic position for Rangers for a number of years. As much as he struggled at McDiarmid Park his energy and attacking intent will be a big loss in the forthcoming matches. Scott Wright is the likely candidate to replace Sakala and he simply has to deliver. Like much of the squad, the 25-year-old has struggled for form but Rangers need him to stand up and be counted. He has the ability to cause problems for opposing defences and is capable of scoring big goals as we witnessed in the Scottish Cup final but, more often than not, he’s not taken the chances he’s been afforded. Other potential options include Malik Tillman who’s been utilised out on the right at times this campaign to no great effect and the same can be said about Scott Arfield. Rabbi Matondo meanwhile has looked like a rabbit in headlights at times when he has been trusted to fill that void. Looking at the longer term picture, Rangers need to be looking at strengthening in the right forward position come January.

(Image: Rangers Review)

How dangerous will Hearts be?

Robbie Neilson’s men currently occupy fourth in the table and sit nine points behind Rangers but having watched Livingston battle to earn a point at Ibrox recently as well as St Johnstone’s win at the weekend, they will fancy their chances of compounding the misery. Rangers ran out comfortable 4-0 victors at Tynecastle last month with Antonio Colak in scintillating form as he netted a first-half double before second-half strikes from Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos. Hearts have had a mixed bag of results since that defeat with two wins, two defeats and a draw as well as a pretty disappointing Europa Conference League campaign. The Jambos come into the game in decent form having won their last two in the league including an impressive 3-2 victory over Motherwell at the weekend despite being reduced to 10 men with former Ranger Andy Halliday netting a double. Halliday aside, Rangers will need to keep another ex-Ger Barrie McKay quiet and likewise Laurence Shankland who netted a hat-trick against Celtic recently.