Andy Halliday has warned Hearts that they will be coming up against a 'wounded animal' when they face Rangers on Wednesday night.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men go into the showdown under increased pressure after a shock defeat to St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Sunday. The result leaves the Light Blues trailing Celtic at the top of the Premiership by seven points with just 13 games played. Ange Postecoglou's men grabbed two last-gasp goals to secure a 4-2 win after Dundee United had levelled at Parkhead with just minutes to play in normal time.
Hearts have suffered with a mounting injury list as they juggled both Europa Conference League and Premiership football this term but with players making their way back and the European journey now over full focus is on domestic matters. They made it back-to-back league wins after a coming out on top with ten-men in a five-goal thriller against Motherwell.
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They make the trip to Ibrox full of confidence but Halliday knows they face a difficult task - despite the recent woes faced by the Ibrox men.
He told BBC Scotland : "Listen, it'll be difficult. We tried to have a go at them when they came to Tynecastle earlier in the season and they were excellent on the day.
"They made it really difficult for us. Obviously a red card in that game didn't help our cause.
"Quite often with the likes of Rangers and Celtic, when they lose games they're a wounded animal. But we feel as if we're in a good place right now.
"That's two wins in two and we'll try and continue that by taking something positive from the game."
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