WHEN Rangers lost at Parkhead last month and saw their Premiership title dreams suffer what many believed was the final blow, Steven Gerrard would have challenged his players to finish the season strongly, even if they ultimately were going to be left empty-handed.
The following three games have seen Rangers score nine goals and collect nine points and their latest victory - a 3-1 win at Tynecastle - was arguably the most impressive.
A home win over Hearts and one at Motherwell are noteworthy, of course, but it is a different and more difficult test going to Gorgie.
Goals from Jermain Defoe, Ryan Jack and Nikola Katic secured a comfortable triumph, while a late strike from Steven MacLean was scant consolation on a worrying day for Hearts boss Craig Levein.
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RANGERS HAVE DOMINATED HEARTS THIS SEASON
When Rangers won at Tynecastle in December and moved top of the Premiership standings, hopes were high at Ibrox that Gerrard’s side could launch a sustained challenge for the title this term. A failure to win big games against their top six rivals has cost Rangers, however.
The Light Blues haven’t taken enough points against Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Hibernian, while two Old Firm defeats have also been costly in Gerrard’s first term.
But the 38-year-old has no issues against Hearts. Both matches at Ibrox were won with relative ease at 3-1 and 3-0 respectively and Saturday’s victory followed up on that 2-1 win from late last year.
The Jambos are traditionally far tougher opponents to overcome and winning all four meetings is certainly a positive for Gerrard. He must be frustrated at why that form couldn’t have come against the other top teams in the country, though.
ABERDEEN NEXT WEEK WILL BE A TOUGHER TEST FOR GERRARD’S IN-FORM SIDE
As impressive as Rangers have been in their last three outings, it would be wrong for supporters to get ahead of themselves when judging the improvement in Gerrard’s side.
Hearts have been surprisingly off the pace either side of a meeting with a Motherwell team that had nothing to play for in terms of their top six aspirations in the Premiership.
That doesn’t diminish the performances or minimise the positives for Rangers but the visit of Aberdeen next weekend is perhaps a better snapshot of where they are right now.
The Gers have only beaten Derek McInnes’ side in one of their six meetings this term and it was the Dons that ended their aspirations of silverware in both the Betfred Cup and the Scottish Cup at Hampden and Ibrox.
It would be no surprise to see Gerrard go with the same shape and same personnel once again and he will hope his side can continue their winning run as they look to finish the league season strongly.
Beating Hearts and Motherwell is one thing, but overcoming Aberdeen would be a real sign of an upturn.
SHAPE SWITCH HAS PAID OFF FOR GERS
The suspensions handed down to Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent after the Old Firm defeat at Parkhead gave Gerrard selection issues to solve.
Yet they have also helped the Ibrox boss implement a tweaked system that has got the best out of Steven Davis and allowed Scott Arfield to provide more support to striker Jermain Defoe.
The midfield three of Davis, Jack and Glen Kamara has really clicked recently and there is a nice balance of styles in there now. On Saturday, Hearts were outfought, outplayed and outclassed in the central areas.
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Kamara edged it as the best of the trio but Gerrard rightly praised the ever-consistent Jack, and questioned why the 27-year-old hadn’t had more international recognition recently.
This was another encouraging day for Davis as well and the Northern Irishman has finally found his feet second time around at Ibrox.
Having stuck with a 4-3-3 formation for most of the season, it has been interesting to see how the alteration has worked for Gerrard over the last few weeks. It could well be a sign of things to come more often.
DEFOE SHOULD KEEP HIS STARTING JERSEY
Gerrard gave the clearest indication yet that Morelos might not come straight back into the starting line-up after the game at Tynecastle and he does now have a decision to make.
Defoe netted his seventh goal for Rangers as he collected a pass from Kamara and finished well and that moment was the highlight of another classy showing through the middle.
The striker’s movement, and the support of Arfield and Daniel Candeais from narrower starting positions, caused Hearts real problems and he should have had more than one goal to show for his efforts.
Morelos is free for selection after the Aberdeen game but, on form, it is hard to make a case for dropping Defoe from the team. For once, Gerrard has a good issue surrounding the 29-goal Colombian.
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HEARTS NEED TO FIND SOME FORM BEFORE THE FINAL
If this was the first audition for a starting spot at Hampden, there were few that shone under the spotlight.
Some Hearts fans started heading for the exits before Rangers had finished celebrating their third goal on Saturday and Tynecastle was once again an unhappy place to be for those in maroon and white.
Hearts can’t afford to go into the Scottish Cup final on the back of a wretched run of league form. Right now, it’s hard to see how they won’t do just that, however.
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