Kris Boyd, the former Rangers forward turned pundit, warned that his old club faces a make-or-break moment in what has already been a remarkable Scottish Premiership campaign. The Rangers will travel to Tynecastle on May 4 to take on league leaders Hearts, and Boyd insists that a loss would effectively end any realistic chance of winning the championship. "Rangers have to go there and win, or it's done," he told Sky Sports, echoing the urgency that has been building over the past few weeks.
The season has been anything but straightforward. Early on, a series of unexpected results reshaped the title picture.
Celtic secured a victory over Falkirk, propelling them into second place, while Danny Röhl’s Rangers suffered their first home defeat of the campaign at the hands of Motherwell. That setback was quickly followed by a dramatic Edinburgh derby, where Hearts, reduced to nine men, still managed to claim a memorable win over Hibernian, widening their lead over the Old Firm to three points with four matches remaining.
For Boyd, the stakes could not be higher. "Rangers have to go there [Tynecastle] and win, or it's done.
That might be me saying it's done for the fourth or fifth time," he said, emphasizing that the pressure is mounting on the Glasgow side. He added that a victory for Celtic at Ibrox would only heighten the tension, as the champions would be watching their rivals from the sidelines. He also highlighted the psychological battle that Hearts presents.
"When you look at Hibs going 1-0 up, they might have been saying 'this could be ours again', but Hearts have just found another way to go and keep winning a game of football and ask questions of Glasgow's big two," Boyd explained. The Jambos have dominated the league for most of the season, and Boyd finds it hard to argue against their continued supremacy. Boyd praised Hearts manager Derek McInnes, noting that even critics of McInnes would likely name him as the preferred choice if asked by his own players.
"There have been people who have questioned Derek McInnes—his mindset, the way he's gone about it. But if you ask any of those Hearts players who they would have as their manager, it would be Derek McInnes," Boyd said. He also acknowledged the contributions of Tony Bloom and the Jamestown analytics team, while stressing that ultimate success still depends on strong leadership and a unified dressing‑room. "Tony Bloom and the Jamestown analytics have taken a lot of credit and rightly so, but it still needs someone to have full belief and have full control of a dressing room because you can lose it," Boyd added.
He emphasized the importance of depth, noting that substitutes must be ready to influence the game immediately and also lay the groundwork for the following week’s fixtures. The upcoming clash comes just a day after Celtic face Hibernian at Easter Road, also broadcast on Sky Sports, meaning the final weekend of the season will be packed with high‑stakes encounters.
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes, speaking to Sky Sports, admitted that no one can afford to be complacent. "Anybody who says they're not interested in how the others are doing is telling lies. I would always watch the games. For us, the way the kick‑offs were today we had to just focus on Hearts," he said.
McInnes reflected on the difficulty of winning five consecutive games in a tightly contested league, but he believes that gaining momentum early in the split can set a positive tone for the remainder of the campaign. "We said that it would be unlikely that one team would win all five games based on how the league has gone this season. I did think if you could get the momentum and get a good start in your first split game, it sets you up for your next game," he explained.
He warned that a single win does not guarantee future success, but it does provide a psychological boost. "Just because you win this one, it doesn't make the next one any easier but I think psychologically this does us no harm. But we still need to perform. No one is going to give us it, don't rely on anyone else.
It's all on us," McInnes added. Rangers manager Danny Röhl also addressed the media, focusing on resilience and belief. "My job is to go forward, lead them, I will lift them. We can be disappointed, but we lift them again, I give them the belief," he said.
Röhl dismissed any notion that the season is already decided, insisting that the split is still ongoing and that every point matters. "It's not over, this is the part in this split, you have to carry on. It makes no sense to think it's over," he declared. He reminded his squad that the season only truly ends when the final whistle blows.
"If there's the final whistle at the end of the season, then it's over. My team did well so far and I have no doubts that we can do again, to take four wins, but it's not easy, we know this, and with this point we go forward," Röhl continued. He urged his players to keep believing in their process and to seize the opportunity to swing the next match back in Rangers' favor. In summary, the Rangers face a pivotal test at Tynecastle.
A win would keep their title hopes alive and maintain pressure on Celtic, while a loss could see them fall irretrievably behind in the league standings. Both Boyd and the managers involved stress the importance of mindset, preparation, and unity as the season reaches its climax. The outcome of this encounter will likely determine whether Rangers can still claim the Scottish Premiership crown or whether Hearts will cement their dominance and walk away as champions.