Rangers to blame as head coach claims 'the issue is with them' over loan deal

Former Rangers striker and current Hearts boss Steven Naimsith had blasted the Ibrox club over the loan termination of midfielder Alex Lowry.

The 20-year-old prospect moved to Tynecastle in the summer on a season long loan deal but saw his time in the capital cut short after just 17 appearances which has prompted a war of words between the club after Lowry returned with an injury that Gers boss Philippe Clement claimed the club were not aware of.

“I said that Alex Lowry came back and our idea was to put him on loan because it is important for him to get playing minutes like he got at Hearts but he came back with an injury that we didn’t know. He will be out for the next six to eight weeks and it is going to be really difficult to put him on loan" said the Belgian boss.

“We are all disappointed for Alex and for ourselves because it was the ideal scenario to let him play (on loan) for one year then make a good assessment. Now that is going to be difficult and with the squad we have at the moment, it is going to be difficult to give him minutes here" added Clement. However, Gorgie boss Naismith rebuffed Clement's claims, saying that Rangers are to blame for the Lowry situation and pointed to his former club Rangers having an issue internally.

"I think that’s more to do with internal communication between their departments than anything to do with us," said Naismith. "With any loan player, there is nothing that can be done without the parent club having the say-so. The whole way through with Alex, Rangers were in control of it. So it must be a communication issue with them" added the 37-year-old. There were less issues for Clement on the pitch at the weekend though as Cyriel Dessers 12th goal of the season saw them defeat St Mirren 1-0 to keep the pressure on league leaders Celtic who are currently five points clear but have played one game more than their Old Firm rivals.