Michael Beale has ruled out Alex Lowry joining Hearts on a permanent basis, but believes Tynecastle is the perfect place for him to shine.
The Rangers midfielder will play in Gorgie until the end of the season. He made his Premiership debut for the Jambos in their opening day win at St Johnstone, coming off the bench to help his new side secure a 2-0 win.
His first start came in Thursday night's Europa Conference League third qualifying first leg against Rosenborg, with a 2-1 defeat meaning the tie is still alive going into the second leg.
Beale has laid out the reasons why he felt Hearts was the club for Lowry. But he dashed any hopes of the move being made permanent by insisting the 20-year-old has been sent out to develop before coming back to Ibrox and staking his claim for a first team slot after a "broken season" in Govan last term. "Well the first thing is I wanted to keep him as close to home as possible," said Beale. "The second is I had a long conversation with Steven Naismith about him and what he was looking for, and what Rangers were looking for from Alex. "This is a loan to come back.