Little looking for Gers chance

Striker Andrew Little hopes he can force his way into Walter Smith’s first team plans after coming off the bench to rescue a point for Rangers in a 1-1 draw with Hearts at Ibrox.

The Northern Irish international replaced Kirk Broadfoot with 12 minutes remaining and popped up in stoppage to stab home the equaliser and keep Rangers’ ten-month unbeaten league record at home intact.

Teenager Scott Robinson had given Hearts the lead in the 75th minute just 90 seconds after Christian Nade saw red for his second bookable offence.

A spirited performance from the Jambos defence looked to have sealed the win before Little struck his first club for the club. It was only the striker’s fifth appearance of the season since he made his debut against Celtic in October.

The Ibrox side’s options up front are limited with injuries to Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller, Nacho Novo and Steven Naismith.

And Little, who was delighted to get off the mark for the Old Firm side, said the injury crisis and the current financial problems surrounding the club could present him and fellow youngsters with a chance to grab a starting role.

“The squad at the minute is very thin and it works in favour for me as hopefully I’ll get a few more chances,” Little said. “I really enjoy getting my few bits and pieces on the pitch recently so on a personal level hopefully I can get more and more game time but for the sake of the team we want all of those boys back as soon as possible really.

“The financial situation is not ideal but it’s certainly good for the young boys coming through. With a few of us getting a bit more of a chance it motivates them and pushes them on a bit.

“I’m trying to be as confident as I can and when I get to play up front I’m looking to score goals. It wasn’t as if it was anything special. It’s broken to me and if I’d have missed it then it would’ve been a bad miss.

“It’s up to me really that when I do get my 10 or 15 minutes here or there that I try to make an impact and I suppose scoring a goal is a good way to do that.

“First and foremost I want to push on and become a first team regular.”

The point takes Rangers ten points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League although rivals Celtic have two games in hand, starting with their match against St Johnstone on Sunday.

But Little said his team-mates were disappointed not to get the win and open a 12 point advantage to pile the pressure on their Old Firm rivals.

“That was the aim. We knew today was going to be hard. Hearts were always going to come her e and make it difficult for us and unfortunately we didn’t create as many chances as we might have liked in the second-half,” the striker added.

“But there’s a long way to go and every game is just as big as every other game so hopefully we can get a good run like we did in December and push on.” Rangers’ coach Smith refused to use the injury crisis at Ibrox as an excuse for the dropped points against Hearts and praised the youngsters who were asked to fill in.

“Injuries happen to all the teams throughout the season and you have to cope with that,” Smith said. “The difficulty that all the teams have, and we’re having at the present moment, is that you have to pitch people in who haven’t been playing on a regular basis and they’re not always up to full match sharpness.

“It is an awkward situation for the younger boys coming in to handle this for the simple reason they haven’t played a lot of games throughout the season.”

Rangers face St Mirren away on Wednesday before taking on Falkirk at Ibrox on Saturday and Smith hopes to have DaMarcus Beasley and Steven Naismith along with Pedro Mendes available for the match.