Hearts boss Craig Levein wary of Rangers after Celtic defeat
Wednesday 18 April 2018 15:55, UK
Hearts boss Craig Levein does not know what to expect from Rangers after the fall-out from their 4-0 defeat to Celtic.
Hearts play their third league game of the season at Ibrox on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Football from 12pm, and the home side will be without the suspended Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller following their dressing room bust-up with manager Graeme Murty after the Scottish Cup semi-final.
"There's been a bit of a stramash the last few days," said Levein. "Up until the Celtic game I thought they were ticking over fairly nicely in that quest for second place.
"In all honesty that's probably where Rangers are just now. I don't think they've got back up to full speed, to be able to challenge Celtic. Financially Celtic are still a little bit ahead.
"So they're going okay and then after the firecracker on the weekend, it's become quite an interesting situation.
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"Is it a good time to play Rangers? It depends how they react to the Old Firm game.
"Normally, I would be wary of any team that has suffered a 4-0 defeat because generally there's a bounce back and a willingness not to go through that situation again. I see that happening in this situation as well.
"There are obviously off-field things that are attracting attention but there are a lot of good professionals in that dressing room and I expect them to be ready to go against us on Sunday."
Former Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty says Wallace and Miller are both "born winners" who want what's best for the club.
"They're going to be disappointed at not playing, especially Kenny as he's probably put in some of his best performances against Celtic and scored some vital goals," said Lafferty, who says he will not celebrate if he scores at Ibrox on Sunday.
"Lee is the captain of the club, he's been there through the lowest point Rangers have ever been in their history, and stayed there. He probably had a right to say something.
"Fingers crossed they sort it out and we'll see them in a Rangers shirt again."
