Alex Lowry treated 'unfairly' as Rangers star's Hearts form sparks call for major rulebook rethink

Alan Rough reckons it's 'unfair' on Alex Lowry that he won't be allowed to play against Rangers at Hampden - and wants the rulebook changed to let him in.

Lowry scored his first Hearts goal off the bench to fire his team into the Viaplay Cup semi-finals but his heart will have sank a little when Rangers came out of the hat, ruling him out of the game as an Ibrox loanee. He'll be hoping to cement his status as a key player between now and the November showing but will miss out for Steven Naismith's team either way.

It's been a longstanding rule that players on loan are generally not allowed to feature against their parent clubs but Rough reckons it's time for it to go out the window. The former Scotland keeper vented his bemusement at the situation on PLZ Soccer.

Rough said: "It goes back to that stupid rule I keep thinking about that the player on loan can't play against the team that they're registered to. It's not fair on the player, if he's not good enough to play in your first team then why can't he play in the other team?

"I know the consequences of him playing, scoring the winner and all that carry on. But the loan system needs to be looked at."