Derek McInnes chuffed with 'vitally important' Rangers stat after Hearts as Ibrox star named as standout

Rangers boss Derek McInnes thinks his side have added another string to their bow in terms of set pieces of late, as they’ve now scored from two in as many games.

Defender Olwethu Makhanya - who the gaffer picked out as the standout performer against Hearts - bagged the late equaliser in their 2-2 stalemate at Tynecastle. His looping header from winger Badredine Bouanani’s free kick salvaged a point in the capital, only five days after striker Kevin Kelsy tapped in from a corner for his second in the 4-0 victory over St Johnstone at Ibrox on Saturday.

Despite their strong start to the campaign, dead balls have become an area of concern for Rangers following a significant drop-off from last season. Newly-appointed Ibrox set-piece coach Simon Ireland left his post in September after just 54 days on the job. However, McInnes is now pleased to be seeing some results.

McInnes hails ‘outstanding’ Makhanya and set piece goal

Makhanya has been an integral part of the manager’s formula since signing in the summer from Philadelphia Union for £3m. After back-to-back standout performances against Celtic last month, the South African has now displayed a strong performance against another potential title rival at Tynecastle.

After the match, McInnes said: “I thought he (Makhanya) was outstanding and he had to be because we weren’t as assured around him at times. I thought he was terrific. He gets his goal, which is two goals now in two games from set plays. That’s vitally important for us and we need to add that to our bow. But, it was more the retention of the ball in the forward areas that I thought needed to be better.”

It’s fair to say the hosts had the lion’s share of chances created in Gorgie, however it was Rangers who took the lead through Kelsy. Hearts responded in the second half through striker Claudio Braga and winger Calvin Miller. With three points firmly in the hosts’ grasp, Makhanya’s header rescued a point. With Celtic dropping points to Dundee United at home as they also drew 2-2, it means no ground was lost in the title race on Wednesday night.

McInnes on the state of play at Tynecastle

When asked if it was a point gained or two points lost in the capital, McInnes responded: “I think when you go in front at a place like this, we’re disappointed we never showed more authority in the game. I don’t think you expect to have control when you come to Tynecastle. We’ve got a very young forward line and I don’t think we secured the ball enough.

“I think when we did, as we did for the two strikers combining for the ball, it’s a brilliant goal in terms of combination play from them. But when you’re two teams, effectively 4-4-2, playing a full press and going after the ball, it’s not so much the first ball up that you need to win, it’s the next one.

“I thought Hearts, certainly for that 15-minute period before half-time, kept picking up a lot of the ball and feeding their wider players and forward players. I thought their forward players looked after the ball a lot better. We were giving away umpteen free-kicks and playing with fire, to be honest. We were disappointed that, going into half-time, we gave up a lot of control of the game.”

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