Danny Rohl claims Hearts should be feeling the pressure going into the top-of-the-table clash with Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.
The Light Blues conceded a late goal to draw 1-1 with Motherwell at Fir Park on Wednesday night to leave them five points behind the William Hill Premiership leaders and one point ahead of Celtic, who have a game in hand over both their title rivals.
When Rohl took over from Russell Martin in October, Rangers were 13 points behind Hearts, with the German coach guiding them back into the title race and when asked if Sunday was a must-win game for the Gers, he turned the question on its head.
“Yeah, generally it’s about consistency, to take three points again and again and again, and in the last couple of weeks we did really well at this,” said Rohl, who declined to reveal his team news.
“That’s the reason why we closed the gap.
“It’s a big game to take the three points, but I think it’s also the same for Hearts.
“If you are 13 points ahead of a club and you drop maybe to two points, maybe there’s also pressure on them.
“This is for both teams, both teams know what’s about in this game.
“I think both teams have pressure on this game. If we can close to two points, it would be massive.
“Every game now is crucial. All the teams now know every result influences a lot, but every result is also not a final decision.
“This is also very important to understand.
“We have had a good run at home, a lot of good results, a lot of clean sheets.
“But we face a strong side, we have a different challenge to Wednesday. We have also to understand this game, and I want to pick the best team for this game.”
Despite extending Rangers’ unbeaten domestic run to 12 games, Rohl came in for criticism from fans perhaps for the first time on Wednesday, with frustrated and anxious supporters questioning team selection, substitutions and approach to the game, especially when the home side were reduced to 10 men in the second half.
The former Sheffield Wednesday boss, who was named Premiership manager of the month for January, said: “Twenty-four hours before the game you get an award for the best manager of the month, 24 hours later you’re not good enough.
“This is football. I’ve said it many times before, it’s about the next game.
“In football sometimes it’s emotional. In this match day, we concede late, the two other clubs (Celtic and Hearts in their respective midweek games) scored late, it could be a completely different story today and you ask me different questions.
“But this is football. I try to be balanced after wins but also after draws, we’re not talking about defeats at the moment.
“We were not happy, especially when you concede so late.
“As a manager you always take the responsibility. I make my decision before the game, there was an idea behind it.
“And then after, the decision-making is influenced by the result.
“If you draw, then you have to ask maybe such critical questions, but this is normal.”
