Hearts to face Rangers THREE times in rapid succession as Craig Gordon ramps up emotional injury return

A Hearts select team will face off against a Rangers XI this week teeing up a run of three out of four games for the Jambos against their Glasgow rivals.

And Craig Gordon will put on the gloves as he ramps up his return from his leg break when the sides meet behind closed doors. The encounter will kickstart three quick-fire encounters against Rangers for Hearts who travel to Ibrox for Premiership duty on Saturday. And that will be followed by another trip down the M8 for the Viaplay Cup semi final on Sunday, November 5 after they host Livingston.

Gordon turned out for the B team against Spartans and will do so again against Rangers. Both Steven Naismith and Philippe Clement will use the encounter to give those lacking game time minutes with the Ibrox first team heading to the Czech Republic to take on Sparta Prague in their Europa League crunch.

Speaking after the defeat to Celtic, Naismith said: "There is a game against Rangers B which is for Craig and the B team players. That gets him minutes and we might do something similar for him again in the next week or two.

"The B team's fixture list is quite sporadic at times. They can go two and a half weeks or three weeks without playing, so it suits us to get games arranged. That allows them to continue their routine, plus it allows us to give players minutes if they need them."