'We truly believe we can walk away with it' - Rangers sent message by Hearts midfielder

Rangers' Glen Kamara (left) tussles with Hearts' Cammy Devlin during a match earlier in the season between the two teams.

For the first time this season, the Ibrox club have dropped points in consecutive domestic matches, costing them their place at the top of the Premiership table.

A third successive slip-up would further inflame that disappointment. But, while the outcome of Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off between Motherwell and Celtic could seriously influence the mood and the levels of patience in the stands when the later game kicks off, the onus is on Hearts to remain mentally-attuned regardless.

Setting themselves the target of improving results in Glasgow, they have, so far, managed a 1-1 draw at Ibrox and a contentious 1-0 defeat by Celtic, but there is belief within the camp that they can reach even higher.

“We all watched the [Old Firm] game and Celtic have gone top so Rangers will be trying to get a reaction from that,” said Hearts’ Australian midfielder Cammy Devlin. “They’re back at home in front of their fans but we’ll focus on ourselves and have belief in our structure. We truly believe we can walk away with it.”

But, while backing himself and his colleagues, Devlin is not daft enough to write Rangers off. Especially not with the likes of Aaron Ramsey lurking in the shadows.

“Aaron Ramsey’s career speaks for itself, he came from Juventus and played for years at Arsenal. He is a top player and I watched him back home in the [English] Premier League for so many years.

“He’ll want to make his mark and it’s our job to try and stop him if he does play but he’s not the only player we’ll be focussing on.

“We’ll be focussing on ourselves and if he is on the pitch we’ll have to nullify what he does well but it’s the same with every player. He’s a big player and everyone knows Aaron Ramsey so it will be cool to come up against him but we’ll have to try and make sure he does not do much.

“Individually they are really good players and that creates a good team. Going to Ibrox the first time, [Joe] Aribo and [Glen] Kamara are great players and against Celtic you have McGregor, Hatate who has just come in was really good at Tynecastle the other day. I personally love that as a player. If you challenge yourself against the best players you are only going to become better.

“You don’t want to be in your comfort zone playing players that are maybe not as good. You want to face the best.”

“[Celtic and Rangers] are very good teams, there is no shying away from that. You would be silly to say they’re not. They’ve got great players and good crowds but we’re sitting where we are for a reason – 10 points clear in third. We’re not far off, we’re doing really well. We went to Ibrox and got a draw, went to Celtic Park and we lost 1-0 with arguably a goal that should not have been a goal. If we go there and do what we work on in training there is no reason we can’t do it.”

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