Braced Derek McInnes tells Rangers what they need to beat Hearts as Claudio Braga sent response

McInnes has not set foot inside Tynecastle since leaving Hearts for Rangers in June. The 55-year-old came within minutes of guiding the Gorgie outfit to an improbable Premiership title triumph last season and admitted that the “injustice” of certain refereeing decisions still rankles with him.

McInnes also revealed that he felt "guilt" over leaving Hearts so soon after the crushing blow of being pipped to the title by Celtic - especially after captain Lawrence Shankland made the switch to Ibrox a couple of weeks earlier.

Shankland won’t be available for selection for Rangers’ trip along the M8 due to injury, with the second-placed visitors four points clear of Hearts in third.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday on returning to Tynecastle, McInnes said: “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.

“I loved my time at Hearts. I need to say that. It was only a short time, but I thought my Hearts team were a breath of fresh air for Scottish football last season. I really enjoyed what we managed to achieve. 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. Taking a team who finished in the bottom six and getting to 80 points, we just felt a real injustice at the end of it all.

“I understand that it’s not going to be great for me tomorrow, but I get it. At Hearts, we were hurting. 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. It was a time when we felt we should all be sticking together. I felt the guilt about the decision over whether I stayed or left.

“I had felt something similar a couple of weeks earlier with Lawrence. I was golfing with Graeme Jones (sporting director) and chewing the fat about the season, the plans for the next season and having a post-mortem of everything when we got the call that Lawrence wanted to go to Rangers.

“I remember how I felt then. 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. I totally get it if the treatment I receive tomorrow is what it is. You could say that maybe I deserve it, but nothing will change how I feel about my time at Hearts.

“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.”

McInnes has love for Braga

Only goalkeeper Beau Reus will be unfamiliar to McInnes on Wednesday night, with the Rangers boss revealing that he spoke to many of the Hearts summer signings in the weeks leading up to his departure.

“I think only the goalkeeper is a player I hadn’t signed or worked with,” continued McInnes. “Although I hadn’t worked directly with a lot of the new signings, they were players I had numerous Zoom calls and conversations with about bringing in.

“Even at the end of last season, during the first week of my holiday, I was speaking to Tom Renaud, Malachi [Fagan-Walcott], MJ Kamara and [Amadou] Ba-Sy. The work means you feel as though you have a wee in with those guys.

“Obviously, it’s now somebody else’s job at Hearts to bring those boys on. They’ve got their job to get on with, but they’ve shown enough encouragement this season to suggest they will be absolutely title contenders again. There’s no doubt about that in my eyes. They are such a well-run club. They’ve got a brilliant chairman in Callum [Paterson] and they are really well run and they have the influence of Jamestown, so I only expect them to get better.

One of McInnes’ former charges in Claudio Braga spoke highly of McInnes last weekend and the coach reciprocated the warm words for a striker who won player of the year last season.

“Clearly, Claudio is such a talented player and his influence on the team has been clear,” said McInnes. “You would like when you sign a player the type of person that they are, but he’s just a good soul from top to bottom. He’s a proper person.

“He’s somebody I really enjoyed working with, somebody I still keep in touch with and someone I would like to help going forward. Good things will happen for him. Hopefully we can keep him quiet tomorrow night, along with some of his teammates, but he should be proud of what he has done in such a short period at Hearts.”

Hearts never lost a home match under McInnes’ watch and they remain unbeaten at Tynecastle since May 2025. Rangers will require a near complete performance to come away with all three points, according to their boss.

“My concern is Rangers and for us to improve. It is up to us to improve enough to be successful and win trophies. There are still a lot of familiar faces there who I’ve worked with, but it’s about the game. It’s not going to be about anything else.

“I think every component comes into it. Sometimes you think you have time at a place like Tynecastle, but you actually don’t. You need to be on your game and ready for that, so that will be part of the message.

“Both teams have a lot of good players. Both sets of players can play at tempo and speed. They can press properly and move the ball quickly in possession. The speed on the pitch will be there and the environment off it will be there too, so it all lends itself to a cup-tie atmosphere. You’ve got to be ready for it.”