Alfredo Morelos has hammered Hearts over the past four years and with a trip to Tynecastle looming the Rangers striker will be champing at the bit to get at them again.
But Mark Hateley reckons the Colombian will have to settle for being unleashed from the bench at some point on Saturday as Giovanni van Bronckhorst can’t afford to drop Antonio Colak for a match that could see the Ibrox side go back to the top of the Premiership, even if only for a couple of hours.
Celtic’s unexpected defeat to St Mirren last time out reduced their lead to just two points and gave their rivals a timely boost but Hateley knows that will count for nothing if they don’t take care of their own business in the lunch time kick-off in the capital before Ange Postecoglou’s men tackle Motherwell.The Rangers nine-in-a-row legend knows enough about Morelos’ record against the Jambos to accept he has a case for starting.
Since October 2018, Morelos has played against Hearts eight times and scored nine goals. In fact, he’s failed to hit the net in only one of those matches.
But Hateley insists van Bronckhorst has to stick with Colak, whose double against Dundee United in Gers’ last outing took his goal tally to nine in 12 starts since signing in the summer. The former England striker said: “Funnily enough, I had a great record against Hearts as well at one point. I went through a spell of scoring every time I played them. I think I got 11 in seven games.
“You sometimes had clubs that for one reason or another you just seemed to do well against. You looked forward to playing against them and for me, Hearts was one of them, as I suspect they are for Alfredo if he has a good scoring record against them.
“As a striker, I always had that in-built confidence that I could score no matter who we were playing and Rangers had so many great players at the time that you always felt you’d get chances, no matter the opposition.
“You have to have that belief as the leader of the line. I never went into a game thinking I wasn’t going to score and I suspect Alfredo and Antonio Colak will be of the same frame of mind. They certainly should be at a club like Rangers.
“There are definitely teams, though, who you think: ‘I fancy this again.’
“That could be because you’re up against a certain defender who you’ve got the better of in the past, or it could be that the opposition’s style suits you. There are other factors, like feeding off the atmosphere. Rangers v Hearts is always electric at Ibrox or Tynecastle and Alfredo has shown in the past that he loves the big occasion.”
But Hateley reckons the South American may have to cool his heels on the bench on Saturday. He added: “I’d pick Colak because he’s the man in scoring form and when you’re on a run like that, you have to stay in the team.
“I know Gio put Alfredo in for the Napoli game but Colak came straight back in for the last league game against Dundee United and he did what he had to do – he scored the two goals that won Rangers the match.
“As a striker who had done that, I would be mightily unhappy if I didn’t play in the next match. He’s earned the right to keep the jersey.
“If Rangers get the ball in the box, Colak will put it in the back of the net. He’s shown that time and again.
“And for as long as he’s doing that, I think he has to be picked. Even if Morelos is desperate to start.
“You have to always play your striker who is in form and scoring goals, and that man is Colak at the moment.”
Hateley believes Rangers, who had been five points adrift, will have been given a massive shot in the arm by Celtic’s shock loss in Paisley.
“They should be going to Tynecastle straining at the leash after Celtic dropped points in their last game,” he insisted. “They know they can go above them with a win, even if it’s only for a couple of hours. They have to win to try to apply pressure on Celtic before they go out to face Motherwell.
“It’s just a case of who makes the fewest mistakes and then it comes down to the Old Firm games. This is a huge game. But if Rangers want to win the league, they are going to have to go to places like Tynecastle and win.”
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