John Rankin will always appreciate the message of support he got from Robbie Neilson during Hamilton’s losing run.
The Accies boss revealed Hearts counterpart Neilson was quick to get in touch when his side were in the midst of a seven-game losing streak in the Championship. And Rankin, who played alongside Neilson at Dundee United and worked under him as a coach at Tynecastle, admits that meant a lot.
But that won’t stop him trying to get the better of his old pal when Hearts head to New Douglas Park on Scottish Cup duty. Rankin, in his first managerial job, said: “I was a former team-mate of Robbie’s and he has been great with me. So much so that this season when results hadn’t been going so well he had been in contact and was a good support mechanism for myself. And after a poor result it was a text message I thoroughly appreciated.
