Rangers starlet Andrew Little frustrated despite goal

ANDREW Little described his first senior goal for Rangers as a dream come true, but remained disappointed that his side had not managed to beat a stubborn Hearts side.

The 20-year-old substitute's late equaliser – scored in front of his watching family, who had travelled from Northern Ireland for the game – prevented Rangers from slumping to their first defeat in the SPL at Ibrox since Inverness Caledonian Thistle won in March 2009. "On a personal level it was very special for me. I was delighted and enjoyed it," said Little. "But, for the team, we wanted to get the three points so I didn't really celebrate.

"It was the first time that my mum, dad and two brothers were all over for the game and I wanted to go and celebrate but I couldn't because we needed to try and score the winner."

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With Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller, Nacho Novo, Steven Naismith and DaMarcus Beasley all sidelined through injury, Rangers were desperately short of goalscorers, and not surprisingly toiled to find the back of the net against a typically robust Hearts side who were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Christian Nade.

"The squad at the moment is very thin and Hearts always come to try and make it difficult," said Little. "I was just told to get a goal when I was brought on. It wasn't as if it was anything special – the ball broke to me and if I'd missed it, it would have been a bad miss.

"All the young boys realise that a few of us are getting a chance and that motivates them. But for the sake of the team, we want all our top players back."