Dunne: Rangers game as big as it gets

HEARTS defender Jimmy Dunne feels he is set to experience as big an occasion as you would get in any league around the world as the Ladbrokes Premiership leaders prepare to face Rangers at Ibrox.

Hearts are unbeaten in all 13 games this season while Rangers have won eight and drawn one of their nine home matches in European and domestic football, their latest Ibrox win coming against Rapid Vienna on Thursday.

Dunne admits that he did not foresee how intense Scottish football would be when he made his loan move from Burnley in August.

The 20-year-old Drogheda man said: “Some people maybe underestimate the standard. It’s hard to compare to leagues in England but what I would say is that the occasion of the game is bigger than you’d get anywhere.

“This weekend is going to be an amazing atmosphere and we are looking forward to that so much. The cup semi-final (against Celtic) is going to be a crazy atmosphere, and you don’t get that in most leagues in the world.

“And for someone developing at my age, that is an unbelievable experience, and exactly what I need. In terms of that, it’s as big as you’d get anywhere.

“This is a massive game, we are top and they are doing really well. It will be entertaining and interesting because people want to know where exactly we are in the league: are we just on top because of the teams we’ve beaten or can we beat Rangers?

“I certainly didn’t dream of it going this well at the start and I maybe underestimated how big a club this was and how huge an opportunity I had to get somewhere with this club.

“It’s got a huge fan base, we are getting huge support and that really helps. We are getting big turnouts and 4,500-5,000 travelling to away games. I never imagined we would have that support. It makes a huge difference.”

Rangers have scored 16 goals in their past four Ibrox games but Dunne has faith in the approach that has taken Hearts top.

“We just have to keep doing what we have done in previous games, which is doing the basics really well and rattling teams early,” he said.

“I don’t think we are going to change too much because of the occasion.

“We are just going to enjoy it and do what we have been doing all the time.”