Neilson’s decision to play full team could prove costly for Cup Final hopes
FOR Rangers’ second string it was one last chance to impress Gio van Bronckhorst and stick their hand up before Seville.
But for Robbie Neilson’s Jambos it was a day when the key men who have done so much to restore Hearts’ reputation this season could only risk leaving their boss with second thoughts.
While van Bronckhorst may now be having to reconsider his plans for the burgeoning teenage talents of Alex Lowry, so too might Neilson be now reevaluating one or two positions after seeing them finish a hugely impressive first campaign back in the Premiership with a whimper.
This wasn’t quite the dress rehearsal for Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final it may have been had Gers not stormed to within touching distance of an altogether more alluring prize.
Van Bronkhorst has had grim luck when it comes to injuries of late so it was understandable he would opt to leave out the 11 men who will be tasked with bringing Europa League glory back to Ibrox on Wednesday night.
James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, John Lundstram and Ryan Kent weren’t so much wrapped up in cotton wool as shrouded in bubblewrap and locked away in a vault, lest they have their names join Kemar Roofe, Alfredo Morelos and Ianis Hagi on the casualty list.
If zero chances were being taken by the Ibrox boss, the same can’t be said of Neilson’s team selection.
Bar John Souttar and Craig Halkett, who made timely returns from injury off the bench, this wasn’t far from the line-up the Jambos boss was hoping would line up at Hampden.
After back-to-back league defeats, the chance to regain some momentum proved irresistible for the Gorgie gaffer. But picking a firstchoice team wasn’t a risk-free decision and it may end up backfiring if the tight groin that forced Liam Boyce off after just 10 minutes proves to be as bad as the worried look on the Northern Irishman’s face seemed to suggest it was. And it certainly didn’t provide the moralebooster Neilson was aiming for as his team were swept aside by the band of Rangers reserves and B-team hopefuls. Few in maroon will want to look back on this one, particularly the backline, and there will be a few now sweating on their Hampden prospects. The Rangers fans may have been found it easier to recognise the Hearts subs than their own given their bench was filled almost entirely with untested rookies.
By time up Gers had fielded eight teenagers, handed a first start to Adam Devine and debuts off the bench to Cole McKinnon, Ross McAusland and Tony Weston.
It also says a lot about how Aaron Ramsey’s place in the Ibrox pecking order that he found himself consigned to running about with the kids and cast-offs while van Bronckhorst’s main men were give the day off. There were