Lawrence Shankland in defiant Hearts stance after Rangers loss as Steve Clarke sees moment Jambos will rue
The Hearts striker and Scotland manager have reacted to the clash between Rangers and the Jambos.
Lawrence Shankland has insisted he will bang the positive drum for Hearts after their loss at Rangers - as Scotland boss Steve Clarke assessed the match.
The injured Jambos talisman watched the game on Sky Sports punditry duty alongside his head coach at national team level and Ibrox hero Kris Boyd. Rangers closed the gap to two points on the Premiership leaders with a 4-2 win and Celtic’s 3-2 success over Kilmarnock moves them within three of Hearts, with a game in hand, at Aberdeen.
It’s just a fourth league loss of the season for Derek McInnes’ side, and the club focal point insists he can’t help but be positive overall about Hearts, amid a strong season to date. Negative voices may creep in externally after a loss in a big game but he feels the dressing room are handling pressure well.
Lawrence Shankland on Hearts title challenge
Shankland said: “When you come here and obviously you take the lead twice, it's always disappointing. I said at half-time that a lot of our good work this season has been built on keeping clean sheets and keeping teams out of the other end. It's a good day for Rangers, but on our part, we've lost one of our remaining games. It's pretty simple, that's it. The job is to go and win the next one, and that's what we're going to look to go and do.
“I think you always feel when you come here and you do take the lead, you probably want to hang on to that for 10, 15 to really get the crowd on their back. You can kind of play yourself back into the game from there. Rangers obviously got a goal pretty quickly after that. They responded pretty quickly after the second one as well when we took the lead again. From our point of view that’s why we’re disappointed.
“We just need to keep going. I can't help but be positive. Every game that goes past where you don't pick up a win or you lose feels like the world is coming down, and you are getting messages here and there from people. That is the way it's going to be. We have done really well to deal with the pressure to this point and I think we need to keep doing it."
Shankland had also noted Celtic’s dramatic win pre-match but insisted: “Obviously, we knew, at the start of the day, that Celtic were playing before us, and that was always going to be in (the result) .I think what we have done pretty well is assume that the other teams around us are going to win. I think if you can do that, it makes you take care of your own games, and it doesn’t matter what goes on elsewhere. If we win our games, then we will still be in a good place.”
Steve Clarke on Rangers 4-2 Hearts
Clarke watched as a Michael Steinwender own goal and Youssef Chermiti hat-trick downed Hearts, who were twice ahead through Marc Leonard and Claudio Braga efforts. The Scotland boss reckons it will be dropping a lead twice that will be of most annoyance to Tynecastle gaffer McInnes, having changed to a back three to try and counter their hosts.
He does feel, however, that McInnes’ title chase in a previous role with Aberdeen will stand Hearts in good stead. Clarke said: “I think it was more that Rangers adapted and Derek obviously made the change. Thinking using three centre-backs to control the two strikers but they didn't really get the strikers under control.
“The balls were still coming in the box. You see on that one, Chermiti scores a fantastic header, but Baningime is with him as he makes a run into the box. He's got to be a little bit stronger, maybe go all the way, just get a little nudge on him at the end. I think the biggest disappointment for Hearts is they've come here and they've scored two goals, but conceded four at the other end.”
"He's been in this position before a few years ago at Aberdeen when they were chasing Celtic getting towards the end of the season. He will have learned from that and that was the message he was giving, don't panic. There will be more twists and turns and it's how you adapt. I think it's easier to be the team at the top than the team chasing."