Hearts v Rangers: Manager wants to 'break the normality' against champions as players return from illness

Eva Olid insists “anything is possible” as Hearts take on champions Rangers on Sunday and welcome for the return of multiple players from illness.

The SWPL match at Oriam is the first league game back for the Jam Tarts after the winter break. Rangers are unbeaten in the league since the 2020/21 season and have only dropped four points this campaign. Despite the quality of Rangers, Olid believes Hearts can “break the normality” and get a positive result.

“We are looking forward to the match because the last time we played Rangers our first half was one of the best performances we have had,” she told the Edinburgh Evening News. “The girls were so motivated to play against them. We know we are playing against one of the best teams in the country, but we like the competitiveness.

“We are playing against a very good team, with good individual players. We try to use many things to motivate our players. The players also need to believe because in football anything can happen if you believe. If you don’t believe Rangers will win. We want to break that normality. The minimum is to try and compete.”

Eva Olid's side have only lost one of their last eight games in all competitions. Credit: Malcolm MacKenzie.

Hearts are currently unbeaten at home in the league after winning all six of their games at the Oriam this season. The visitors will be the toughest home test so far with Olid’s side having suffered a 2-0 loss in the reverse fixture back in August.

Many players within the squad have been suffering from a flu in the build-up to the match, however the manager is hoping that they can get minutes on the pitch on Sunday. “We are close to having a full squad available”, Olid stated. “Last week we had some players suffering from the flu. That is normal in the winter. This week some of the players who didn’t train last week are coming back to train and we have to manage their minutes this Sunday. One of the young players Eilidh Davies is injured, but the rest are fine. It’s just about that cold which is normal in the winter, and we will manage that.”