Barry Ferguson believes the Rangers players shouldn't need a rally cry from skipper James Tavernier to fire themselves up for Hearts.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men defeated Dundee United before the international break to end a run of three heavy defeats on the trot while they were handed a major boost with Celtic's shock loss at St Mirren meaning the gap between the top two sits at just two points.
The Light Blues play first this weekend and know victory would take them top of the tree ahead of Ange Postecoglou and his Hoops side hosting Motherwell. Former Ibrox skipper Ferguson knows his old side need to go to the capital and win to put some pressure on the Scottish champions.
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Ahead of the game captain Tavernier threw down the gauntlet to his team-mates insisting there is plenty of time in their bid to win back the Premiership from Celtic. Fergie accepts that the rally cry will get the fans fired up - but says the players should be up for the battle at Tynecastle without it.
Speaking on Go Radio, Ferguson said: "There is plenty of time, but they need to up the performances. That needs to start at Tynecastle on Saturday.
"It was a surprise result for Celtic against St Mirren, I didn't see it coming. I don't think anybody saw St Mirren taking three points off Celtic, and now there is only two points in it.
"Rangers need to go to Tynecastle and put a bit of pressure on Celtic. I fully expect Celtic to beat Motherwell, but you never know. You go one point ahead, you are top of the league and you throw it back at Celtic and see if they can handle it.
"With the result with Celtic you are back in it. At five points, I would never say it's over at five points, but before St Mirren Celtic were looking relentless and blowing teams away,
"You are back to two points. The focus is on getting the three points at Tynecastle and putting the pressure on Celtic, whether that is playing good, bad or indifferent.
"The captain should be doing that, a rallying cry. But the players should be up for it anyway, they shouldn't need to do rallying cries. But it gets the fans fired up for what is a massive afternoon."
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