Steven Gerrard’s side will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table when they host second-placed Hearts at Ibrox on Saturday.
Looking ahead to Hearts’ trip to Glasgow, former Scottish top flight star Craigan has warned Rangers that they will be going up against a different team from the side they have faced on previous occasions.
Craigan is of the view that Hearts boss Robbie Neilson used to be pragmatic when facing bigger sides before, but feels he has changed his approach, with Edinburgh outfit now having quality players in their ranks.
The former Motherwell star says that Neilson will be positive that Hearts have what it takes to hurt Rangers and suggested that they will play as Hibernian did at Ibrox earlier this month.
“I know he has been to Ibrox and won there when they were in the Championship, but I’ve always felt as if sometimes Robbie is a bit too pragmatic when they go against the bigger teams“, Craigan said on the Go Radio Football Show.
“I think he has changed a little bit, I think he is looking at his players and thinking ‘We’ve got a right good side here, we’ve got pace in attack, we’ve got guys who can handle the ball’.
“[Beni] Baningime in midfield – really competitive, gets about the game, he’s got Barrie McKay – an attacking threat, he’s got Liam Boyce, who didn’t go away with Northern Ireland, he’s going to focus on club football, we spoke about him a couple of weeks ago scoring goals, Ben Woodburn.
“So, he is thinking ‘We’ve got players here who can go and hurt Rangers’ and I think we’ll see a different Hearts from what we’ve seen previously, going there and sitting in and try to be hard to play against.
“I think they will follow the lead of Hibs, they will try and take the game to Rangers, which may help Rangers a little bit because they are used to teams coming and sitting in, so if Hearts come and have a good, it will make it an open game.“
Hearts are unbeaten in their eight Scottish Premiership matches so far and it remains to be seen if they can keep their record intact when they visit Rangers on Saturday.
