NEILSON VOWS TO GO ‘GUNG-HO’ AGAINST RANGERS

ROBBIE NEILSON has promised that ‘gung-ho’ Hearts will attack Rangers from the first whistle at Tynecastle today.

Neilson’s men claimed a point from the champions at Ibrox earlier in the season by adopting a more cautious game-plan that saw them equalise with a 90th-minute header from Craig Halkett.

This lunchtime, backed by nearly 20,000 of their own supporters, the head coach will instruct his team to take a bolder approach.

He said: ‘The opportunity to play against Rangers at a full Tynecastle is a great one for us.

‘The fans know there is a group of players who are hungry to win and believe they can win as well.

‘Going through to Glasgow, it’s a different game. They always start the game well and you need to bed yourself in and keep it tight until you get to a point where the game opens up a wee bit.

‘But at Tynecastle, it will be gung ho from the first minute, I would think.’

Meanwhile, Hearts will today pay tribute to former captain Marius Zaliukas, who died this time last year from motor neurone disease.

Zaliukas’ memory will be invoked alongside that of Fernando Ricksen, the former Rangers player who was also taken by the same illness.

The Hearts team will warm up in the No26 shirt worn by Zaliukas, while Rangers will don Ricksen’s No 2. Outside bucket collectors will raise funds for charity MND Scotland.

‘I was here when Marius first came over,’ said Hearts No 1 Craig Gordon. ‘He was one of the bubbliest characters that came over from Lithuania.

‘It’s not an easy thing for a foreign player to come in and captain Hearts but he had the personality and performances to match.

‘We’ll be remembering Fernando, too. I played against him in my first time at Hearts and what a great competitor he was.’