Ryan Jack and Leon Balogun are 'likely' to start for Rangers against Hearts on Sunday afternoon, The Scotsman's Stephen Halliday writes

The lowdown

Jack and Balogun were half-time substitutes in the 3-0 defeat against Celtic in midweek, replacing Glen Kamara and Borna Barisic respectively.

The Scotsman, who earns £12,000 per week, hasn't started a game for Rangers since last February, with Giovanni van Bronckhorst intent on managing his minutes.

Balogun (£14,000-p/w), meanwhile, missed nearly all of November and December, having started 18 of The Gers' first 21 Premiership matches.

The latest

Halliday expects Jack and Balogun to feature in Van Bronckhorst's XI after they 'improved Rangers' performance level' against The Hoops.

Elsewhere, Aaron Ramsey is set to make his debut following his Deadline Day move from Juventus, and Alfredo Morelos is available again after missing the Old Firm because of international commitments.

So, there could be four changes to Gio's selection from Wednesday, with both Ramsey and Jack making their full season debuts in the middle of the park.

The verdict

A starting place would be just reward for the duo, who were arguably Rangers' best players in midweek despite only playing the second 45.

Indeed, only Ryan Kent could match their SofaScore ratings of 7.1/10.

Balogun won three of his four duels, came up with two interceptions and picked out three accurate long balls from four attempts.

The £3.15million-rated Jack, meanwhile, struck the woodwork and created two chances, the joint-most in the team.

Journalist Josh Bunting said he was one of few players who could 'leave the pitch with pride' and called for him to be given a chance from the off.

In other news, Rangers have been gifted a contract boost.