Levein would love an Ibrox win while Gers dare not lose

HEARTS have previous when it comes to winning at Ibrox to apply a bit of title pressure on Rangers.

It’s four years since Robbie Neilson took the Jambos to Glasgow for an intriguing opening Championship fixture.

Osman Sow’s last-gasp winner gave the men in a maroon a dramatic victory. Hearts never looked back after that and romped the second tier with the Light Blues 24 points behind in third.

The pressure was all on Rangers that season but they didn’t live up to the hype and couldn’t handle the heat.

Hearts had also had a summer of upheaval but you’d hardly have known it as Neilson took to his first job in management like a duck to water to sail back to the top flight.

Craig Levein was the mastermind behind it all as director of football as he helped rebuild the club following the pain of administration.

Levein will be back in Govan on Sunday, this time in the dugout, with the chance for Hearts to land another huge blow on the Light Blues.

And the 53-year-old must be rubbing his hands at the prospect of leading his team out with the chance to turn the heat up on Gers again.

Levein and Hearts are in the perfect position going into the game. It’s a no-lose situation. Win and they’ll be 11 points clear of Gers and even a first league defeat of the season will still see them top of the league.

Neilson indulged in mind games before that win in August 2014 when he revealed he’d been working on 10 versus 11 in training in preparation for the referee being influenced by the home support.

Levein’s press conferences have become unmissable and he’s unlikely to miss the chance to gain an advantage before a ball is kicked when he meets the media this morning.

He will know defeat for Rangers is unthinkable. Steven Gerrard’s challenge was to finish second at the very least and get closer to rivals and champions Celtic.

Yet if they lose on Sunday it would be hard to see them clawing back an 11-point deficit.

Gerrard deserves immense credit for leading the club back into the Europa League group stage after four tough qualifying rounds.

Last weekend’s defeat at Livingston was the one big domestic disappointment but, apart from a defensive lapse against Motherwell, there has been a huge improvement.

That is why it is to Hearts’ credit they will arrive at Ibrox eight points clear and Gers fans must wonder how that has happened.

It is even more remarkable given Levein missed out on top goalkeeping target Allan McGregor to the Ibrox side before losing star striker Kyle Lafferty to the Light Blues.

Europe has again been on Gers minds this week with last night’s clash against Rapid Vienna.

Levein has had all week to prepare his squad. He’d love to win. Rangers dare not lose. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT IT was the year Rangers were supposed to win the Championship and take their place back in the top flight.

But the Light Blues didn’t bargain on Robbie Neilson’s Hearts.

He may have been a rookie manager but Neilson revealed he played the Jedi mind trick perfectly on his charges from day one of season 2014-15.

Neilson convinced his Hearts squad they were far better players than Rangers and they would all go on to enjoy more career success than their title rivals.

Under Neilson’s stewardship the men in maroon romped to the Championship title by 21 points from runners-up Hibs as Rangers limped home in third spot.

Neilson insists a 2-1 win at Ibrox on the opening weekend was the catalyst for everything that followed as Hearts made a real statement of intent.

Former Rangers defender Danny Wilson gave the Jambos the lead early in the second half before Nicky Law equalised in the 90th minute.

However, Hearts didn’t settle for a point and Osman Sow’s low strike won the contest deep into stoppage time.

If Gers lose it would be hard to see them claw back 11-point deficit

The win set the Jambos up for an incredible campaign that saw the Edinburgh men win 29 out of 36 league games.

And it remains the last time the Gorgie side triumphed in Govan in the league.

Neilson said: “A lot was made of the fact we were playing Rangers on the opening day but we went there and got the result.

“Our pre-season build- up was focused on that one game.

“Everybody was talking about how Rangers were going to do this and they were going to do that – that they would win the title and get back up to where they believed they belonged.

“Hearts also felt we were a team who belonged in the top flight. I told the Hearts lads to believe they were better players than Rangers.

“I told them we had much better personnel in our dressing room and that we were the hungrier team.

“I drummed it into them a lot of the Hearts players would go further in their careers than those playing for Rangers – and a lot of them have.

“All the players to a man took what I was saying on board. Some of the players are now playing down in England and some of them are in the MLS.

“I said all those things for a reason but it clearly worked and it proved to be the case as we won the league.

“The way it happened at Ibrox that day was quite a sweet moment. We went 1-0 up and Rangers equalised in the 90th minute and then we went straight back up the park and scored the winner. It was a great feeling.”

Having already disposed of Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic at Tynecastle this season Neilson reckons the next task for Craig Levein is to arm his men with the same belief – like he did with the Jambos class of 2014 – that the men in maroon can go to Glasgow and win.

Victory for Hearts on Sunday would see Levein’s side open up an 11-point gap over Steven