A shambolic 4-0 defeat against great rivals Celtic in the Scottish Cup semifinal has drawn an end to Rangers’ title hopes in their second consecutive season since returning to the top flight following four darkest years in club’s glorious history spent in the lower leagues of Scottish football. They, however, are still having a hold of the runners-up place behind the Hoops and need to step up in the remaining fixtures to ensure a Europa League qualification place for the upcoming season.
The Gers, meanwhile, have a fresh turmoil ahead of the Sunday afternoon tie against Hearts at Ibrox as club captain Lee Wallace and veteran Kenny Miller has been suspended by the club indefinitely until an investigation regarding an internal disciplinary action is completed and Graeme Murty, the Light Blues’ boss, is facing a monumental task to uplift the team spirit and prepare them for this weekend encounter.
Team News
The team has to be morally down following the suspension of skipper Wallace and veteran Miller as both of them are now unavailable for the weekend tie. Centre-back David Bates is still out with his ankle injury whereas Ryan Jack, the summer recruit from Aberdeen, is ruled out for the season following a knee injury suffered a few months back.
Formation ( 4-2-3-1)
Murty has fielded his side either as 4-4-1-1 or in a 4-2-3-1 set up on most occasions and likely to prefer the latter one in order to focus more on the wing play and create more opportunities inside the box for the attackers.
Goalkeeper
Wes Foderingham has been the first-choice custodian ahead of Jak Alnwick all season and will retain his place between the sticks for the Hearts game as always.
Defence
Ross McCrorie’s sending off in Old Firm derby might see Murty lining up veteran Bruno Alves partnering Russell Martin ahead of the youngster. Martin was sloppy against Celtic yet is likely to be retained due to the lack of enough central defensive options. Fabio Cardoso has failed to impress the gaffer, so is Lee Hodson, who is struggling to break into the first team since his arrival at Ibrox. James Tavernier will feature in his usual right-back role whereas Declan John will be occupying the other flank on Sunday afternoon.
Midfield
The Gers have plenty of midfield options but none succeeded to impress week in week out in the middle of the park. Jordan Rossiter’s progress has been halted by injuries whereas Jason Holt has failed to replicate the form of his Championship days. Graham Dorrans is back following a lengthy spell of injury but is yet to rediscover his form of early weeks. He is likely to be partnered alongside young Greg Docherty ahead of QPR loanee Sean Goss and an unimpressive Andy Halliday who was having a disastrous outing against Celtic and was replaced inside the first half of the game. Daniel Candeias and Jamie Murphy will be occupying the wide midfield roles but Josh Windass is likely to be handed a start as a midfield attacker after returning from an injury last week versus the Hoops.
Attack
Rangers have a couple of decent options upfront in form of Jason Cummings and Alfredo Morelos. The latter is in fine form and in contention to grab league’s top scorer award. Morelos, hence, is likely to start in goal with a view to salvaging some individual achievement from yet another ordinary campaign.
