Rangers hero Brian Laudrup insists Rangers must put on an impressive display when they face Hearts to silence the critics after a sluggish start to the season.
Gio van Bronckhorst is looking forward to returning to Scottish Premiership action on Saturday and his side trail Celtic by just two points with attention turning back to the title race with Scotland's Nations League triple header coming to a close against the Ukraine. Should Rangers claim three points against Robbie Neilson's side they will move to the top of the table, with Ange Postecoglou's men facing Motherwell later in the day.
The Dane confesses the Light Blues have churned out some disappointing displays so far this season, but reckons a result at Tynecastle could prove to be the turning point for a title push this term. He reckons impressing in the capital is the perfect platform for the Champions League showdown with Liverpool and could reset Van Bronckhorst's Ibrox revolution.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Laudrup said: "Rangers face their biggest and toughest match outside an Old Firm game when they travel to Tynecastle this Saturday. St Mirren's 2-0 win over Celtic in Paisley before the international break was a Christmas gift in September for the Ibrox side.
"Not a lot of people saw it coming. I certainly didn't. Rangers are back in it, but now they need to step up. We have to be fair and say my old club are not playing particularly well right now and this could be a real banana-skin game in Edinburgh against third-placed Hearts. Rangers need to get back to what made them so good last season.
"People are watching Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side not performing. They are seeing high-profile players not delivering the goods.
"The Ibrox players and management badly need to shut the critics up and get a result at Tynecastle and take that into Europe because we all know they play Liverpool at Anfield next in the Champions League. What a game that's going to be!
"As a Rangers player, I loved visiting Tynecastle. It was a real football stadium with 18,000 passionate supporters close to the pitch and up for the game \u0097 with the Glasgow and Edinburgh rivalry an added element.
"We had some very tough and interesting games against Hearts and, if you are expecting any current team to put pressure on Celtic and Rangers from the Premiership, they are the team you would pick."
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