The Sow factor
ROBBIE NEILSON will be the only survivor in the away dressing room at Ibrox tomorrow from the last time Hearts won in Govan in 2014.
The Jambos gaffer may have left and returned in the seven years since but while much has changed he insists the task in hand remains the exact same.
On that occasion both sides were embarking on a battle at the top end of the Championship that would see the Jambos – who bloodied favourites Rangers’ nose with that opening day victory thanks to Osman Sow’s last-gasp winner – emerging champions nine months later.
It may be two entirely different sides who are set to go head-to-head in tomorrow’s top-of-the-table Premiership blockbuster.
But Neilson is adamant similarities between his current squad – the only unbeaten side left in the top flight – and the class of 2014 don’t end in the dugout.
Indeed he is preparing to set his side out looking for a statement victory that would see Hearts leapfrog Steven Gerrard’s champions.
And he is confident he has the tools at his disposal to do just that.
Neilson said: “We had a good team back then, a lot of threats, similar to the team we have now.
“We’ve got a lot of young, hungry guys and a few experienced ones. They’re looking forward to the game.
Robbie: My young guns can pull off Ibrox victory just like opening day win in 2014 when Osman hit winner
“That’s a big difference to teams I’ve been involved with in the past, going through to Glasgow.
“The game itself, it was the first of the season, so it was a marker for the rest of the campaign, showed us where we wanted to be.
“When you go to Ibrox or Parkhead, you are always the underdog. We go there feeling we’re in good form. But we’ll find out on Saturday.”
For all suggestions that Rangers are a shadow of the side that romped to the title last season, Gerrard’s side are still top of the table.
They dealt with the first threat from the east end of the M8 by beating 10-man Hibs at Ibrox last time out.
And Neilson knows his side will be underdogs when they head into the lions’ den – stressing he doesn’t see any vulnerability about the Glasgow giants.
That doesn’t mean highflying Hearts will settle for a point though. He said: “I wouldn’t mind being vulnerable and sitting top of the league! They’re still very good team who have done well in Europe, had some brilliant results there last year.
“They’ve still got the same team basically – and they’ve reinforced it.
“So people talk about them not hitting form but they’re still top of the league.
“We understand that we got there as underdogs. But we feel that, if we can bring our game and play the way we want to play, we give ourselves a chance.”
Hearts are at full strength with John Souttar back having missed the last two victories against Livingston and Motherwell before the international break.
The Jambos will also be the first Premiership side to have a backing behind them – with 900 fans making the trip west.
And the manager said: “It’s brilliant, we have 900 so I’m sure they will be making some noise, hopefully we can keep them happy.”
Hearts are part of a fiveteam top-flight consortium leading a review into how the SPFL markets itself – with TV deals being a major part of the probe.
Neilson backs the review and said: “You could sit and talk about it all day. We played Aberdeen recently and that should have been shown. But the way the contract works they have to go round certain teams every so often.”