Michael Beale sets out Alex Lowry Hearts transfer stall as Rangers boss explains thinking behind Tynecastle loan switch

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. This is a loan to go there and do well, to go and play regular after a broken season. He has no promises, he's got to earn it like everybody else.

"But I felt Steven was right for him and Hearts was the right club as well. They're in Europe, big game against Rosenborg. Good luck to them in the second leg, I think it's really important for Scottish football.

"Alex I thought did ever so well at St Johnstone considering he didn't arrive there until Friday afternoon and probably had only met his teammates on Saturday morning. So far, so good. I think it's a really interesting loan for us. Alex missed quite a lot of football