Rangers v Hearts - Scottish Cup final preview

Rangers face Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Cup final looking to put behind them the disappointment of coming within a whisker of Europa League glory on Wednesday.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side missed out on the club's second European trophy after a penalty shoot-out defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville.

Robbie Neilson's Hearts have, meanwhile, had a week to mull over losing 3-1 at home to a shadow Rangers side in the final Scottish Premiership game of the season.

The Edinburgh club finished third, one place behind their Glasgow rivals in the table, but that Tynecastle defeat stretched the gap between the two teams to 28 points.

Rangers will therefore be strong favourites to record a fourth successive win this season over their capital opponents and lift the world's oldest football trophy for a 34th time.

Hearts, eyeing their ninth Scottish Cup triumph, will hope to benefit should physical and emotional exhaustion kick in for the men in light blue at Hampden.

Both sides have already secured European group stage football no matter the result. Rangers will play in the Champions League qualifiers, with the Europa League as a safety net, while Hearts are guaranteed a Conference League section if they fail to come through the middle-rank tournament's qualifiers.

However, having relinquished the league title to city rivals Celtic and lost in Seville, Van Bronckhorst's side are under particular pressure not to finish a promising season without a trophy.

How to follow the final

Team news

Rangers left-back Borna Barisic will miss the final with the injury that forced him off towards the end of the Europa League final.

As in previous rounds, back-up Jon McLaughlin will start instead of first-choice goalkeeper Allan McGregor, while Filip Helander, Ianis Hagi and Alfredo Morelos are long-term injury absentees.

Hearts' midfielder Peter Haring and forwards Liam Boyce and Ellis Simms picked up knocks in last weekend's league defeat by Rangers but all three are in contention to play.

Defenders Craig Halkett and John Souttar have returned from injury in recent weeks, but Beni Baningime is out long term.

Choose your starting XI. It's up to you how to approach it - you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.

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Choose your starting XI. It's up to you how to approach it - you could go for the team you WANT the manager to pick or the one you THINK he will.

Select formationConfirm team

What they said

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst: "We had a tough game with 120 minutes in difficult heat, but we had a good recovery today.

"All our focus is on the final and we have to support each other as a family to be ready for the final. We didn't get the outcome we wanted, but I have a lot of confidence in my team.

"Jon [McLaughlin] did really well in all the games we played, especially in the semi-final against Celtic, so for me it would be strange to change him. He will still have the confidence from me."

Hearts manager Robbie Neilson: "I've got a rough idea what my team will be. You obviously want your full squad to be fully fit and having played five or 10 games to be ready for it. We don't have that.

"It's a case of deciding who is in form, who's coming back and is fit enough to play, whether they start or come on, so there are a lot of different aspects to look at."

The road to Hampden

Match stats

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