ALLY McCOIST is confident Rangers can rise to the occasion when they face title rivals Hearts this afternoon.

The Light Blues head to Tynecastle six points adrift at the top of the Championship and aiming to bounce back from their embarrassing display at home to Alloa last weekend.

Victory in the Capital would give the Gers' flag bid a much needed boost and McCoist can't wait to get going.

He said: "I think our players are relishing the prospect of going to the team which is top of the league.

"I don't think they are looking at the odds and saying: 'Hearts are favourites, that's an added incentive'.

"The far greater incentive is we've a far greater incentive to claw back three points and cut the gap to three points. That's the main incentive.

"Being written off fires me up and I don't have any doubt it fires the players up as well. Hearts are on a good roll and we respect that.

"We have already played them this season and we lost that game at the start of the season when we should never have lost. There's nothing Hearts have done since that terrifies us. We feel that if we play to our capabilities, we have enough to win the game."

McCoist has seen his side shine against Premiership duo Inverness Caley Thistle and St Johnstone already this season as Rangers have turned on the style at times.

And he has backed his Ibrox stars to once again handle the pressure of a crunch clash in Gorgie. McCoist said: "We are absolutely hoping for something similar. We have had some good performances in bigger games, playing the top-flight teams in the League Cup.

"We deserved to win both games and we kept clean sheets in both of those games. This is another massive test because Hearts wouldn't look out of place in the top flight, that's for sure."