Kevin Kyle's message to Hearts players is loud and clear

Kevin Kyle has urged his Hearts team-mates to find their voices and not be overawed by the Tynecastle atmosphere.

Hearts have not won at home in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League this season ahead of the visit of Rangers this lunchtime. Their latest disappointment came last weekend when they lost 2-0 to Motherwell, with the initially vibrant home fans silenced by a convincing second-half display from the visitors.

Kyle, at 29, was the oldest player in the Hearts squad before the return of Rudi Skacel last month and arguably the player with most experience with Scotland, Sunderland and Coventry.

Kyle, who captained Kilmarnock for much of last season, has found his new team-mates to be a quiet bunch but he was encouraged by the response to his observation.

The striker said: "We had a talk on Wednesday about why Saturday went so wrong.

"There are not a lot of people in the team who talk. I'm sure the fans notice that I do scream and shout. It might be a whole lot of nonsense but that's the way I am.

"I can't help but talk, my missus is ready for chucking me out the house because I'm that loud. It's part of my nature whereas other players are quiet and just get on with their job.

"There were a few people talking on Wednesday. It wasn't a crisis meeting or anything, just a talk to see what went wrong on Saturday. It was just good that some people were able to voice their feelings because then we went out and had a practice match and the team the gaffer picked played really, really well."

While Kyle has found the players to be quiet, he knows the Tynecastle atmosphere is a step-up from Rugby Park, and he has urged his younger players to rise to the fans' expectations.

"Ryan Stevenson has come from Ayr in front of 500 fans. It's big jump and these players don't have the time to adapt. They are chucked into the lions' den and they have to adjust quickly because it's a big club with big expectations and they've got to start doing it."