Hearts Rangers team news: Shankland and Devlin out
Hearts Rangers team news centres on two absentees. Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin will miss Wednesday's Scottish Premiership fixture at Tynecastle through injury. Both left Hearts for Rangers along the M8. Shankland captained Hearts; Devlin played in midfield.
Neither is available to Derek McInnes for his first return to Gorgie since leaving the club in the summer. The two absences remove a former captain and a former midfield regular from the visiting squad.
McInnes expects no warm reception
McInnes, 55, said he is prepared for whatever reception arrives from the home stands. He does not expect a mutual acknowledgement with the Hearts support.
"The hope would be that you get on the pitch and clap the fans and there's an acknowledgment both ways, but that's not going to happen. I totally understand that," he said.
He added: "I understand that it's not going to be great for me tomorrow [Wednesday], but I get it." And: "You could say that maybe I deserve it, but nothing will change how I feel about my time at Hearts."
The 80-point season and the grievance
McInnes took over a Hearts side that had finished in the bottom six and led it to 80 points. The title went to Celtic instead, sealed with a 3-1 win over Hearts at Parkhead on the final day.
"I thought my Hearts team were a breath of fresh air for Scottish football last season," he said. "It showed what could be done, despite not having the huge financial muscle of Rangers and Celtic, and I was proud of what we did there."
In the penultimate fixture, Celtic won 3-2 at Motherwell with a late and contentious penalty. McInnes called the award "disgusting". The comment brought a touchline ban, which he served after taking the Rangers job.
"I think there was a real injustice and a grievance towards the end of the season, we felt we should have won the title. I wanted to be a manager who won a title outside the Old Firm. But for a few contentious decisions going against us, I think we would have won it."
Guilt, and the call over Shankland
McInnes described the close season as a period of collective mourning at Hearts. He said he felt guilt about the decision over whether to stay or leave.
"Last season was almost like we were mourning. That might seem a bit exaggerated, but that's how it felt. We were all clinging to each other during the first part of the close season."
He traced part of that feeling to Shankland's exit. McInnes was playing golf with sporting director Graeme Jones, discussing the season and the plans for the next one, when the call came that Shankland wanted to join Rangers.
"I felt a bit let down and flat about the whole thing. For me to make a similar move a couple of weeks later, I understood that."
Where the table stands
Rangers sit four points behind Premiership leaders Celtic. Hearts are a further four points behind Rangers, which sets the gap between the two clubs at Tynecastle on Wednesday.
The original report is from skysports.com.
