Hearts vs Rangers. Scottish Premiership.
Murrayfield StadiumAttendance32,852.
Saturday 28 October 2017 12:43, UK
Graeme Murty will be in caretaker charge of Rangers when they travel to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Pedro Caixinha was sacked on Thursday following a poor run of results, including a Scottish League Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell and a league draw with struggling Kilmarnock.
Ahead of the game, Murty insists that he is in the role to help prepare the side for their upcoming matches and will be at the helm for as long as the club needs.
"I'm here to ensure the players get what they need. They need to feel assured, ready and confident for the game," he said. "I will sit in this seat for as long as the club wants me to.
"Pedro has been really open and honest with me and we wished each other the best. We had a great relationship. Whoever gets this job is a very fortunate guy. It's one of the stellar jobs in British football."
Hearts manager Craig Levein says his club also have their own struggles to deal with, but believes his side will be competitive to try and get a result.
"We've got our problems. I don't think either of us are going into this game with our best team. There's always a thing about playing against Rangers. Our players will need to be at their best," he said.
"We don't have our own troubles to seek but I'm very confident we will put up a decent display. Certainly, we will fight right through the match."
Kenny Miller has been called back in from the Rangers wilderness by Murty and will be available to feature.
Ryan Jack will also been in the squad after it was confirmed the club have appealed against the red card he was shown at the end of Caixinha's final game in charge against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.
Carlos Pena has shaken off the knee injury that kept him out of that 1-1 draw but Graham Dorrans and Fabio Cardoso will miss the trip to Edinburgh through injury while Bruno Alves is suspended.
Hearts have a full set of midfielders out for the visit of Rangers with Don Cowie, Prince Buaben, Malaury Martin and Arnaud Djoum all missing, while Ross Callachan is battling to overcome a back knock. Defenders Aaron Hughes and Ashley Smith-Brown are out too.
Hearts have won back-to-back home league games against the Gers for the first time in the Scottish Premiership.
The goalless draw between these two sides in August of this season ended a run of seven consecutive top-flight meetings where they had alternated between victories; three for Hearts, four for Rangers. There have never been consecutive stalemates between these two sides in the Scottish Premiership.
Hearts have managed only one win from their last four home league games (D2 L1), but were victorious last time against St. Johnstone.
Rangers are unbeaten in 10 while playing away from Ibrox (W7 D3), and have averaged 2.6 goals per game on the road through their last eight matches.
The Gers have scored more goals in the last 15 minutes of games (7) than any other side in the division.
