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Daily Record
Sport
Robbie Copeland

Predicted Rangers XI against Hearts as Gio van Bronckhorst faces Colak or Morelos poser

Gio van Bronckhorst is going to have to use the breadth and depth of his squad between now and the World Cup break if Rangers are to realise their ambitions this season.

A run of 13 games in 44 days commences today and it doesn't come much tougher than a trip to Gorgie to face Hearts. The Jambos are the best team in Scotland outside of Glasgow and know a victory will put them level on points - perhaps even above them if they can win by a couple of goals.

For Rangers, that simply can't happen if they want to keep the pressure on Celtic, whose lead at the top now stands at just two points after Van Bronckhorst and his team cut the gap before the break. And with that in mind, the Dutchman has a couple of big calls to make to keep things running smoothly.

Antonio Colak has been the main man up front so far and after Van Bronckhorst vowed his "best" players would start, it seems unlikely that the man who netted a double against Dundee United and stands on nine goals in 13 games will be dropped. But Alfredo Morelos is hoping to fight his way back into his manager's favour and will be hoping to compete with the Croatian.

With Tom Lawrence out, Malik Tillman seems likely to be the man playing behind the striker and Ryan Kent is a guaranteed starter off the left. The right-hand side is another matter, though - will it be the experience of Scott Arfield, the dynamism of Scott Wright, or even the explosive exuberance of Rabbi Matondo?

And there's a decision to be made at centre-back too as with John Souttar and Filip Helander still out, there's a place up for grabs alongside Connor Goldson. Ben Davies will be hoping to tie that spot down but James Sands has been fancied there in the past while youngster Leon King started their last league outing.

Here's Record Sport's predicted Rangers lineup.

Predicted Rangers starting XI

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