What now for Rohl's Rangers as title hopes fade?

Breaking news from the world of sport: What now for Rohl's Rangers as title hopes fade? Image source, SNS Image caption, Danny Rohl was left to rue a second-half turnaround as Rangers lost at Hearts By Andy Campbell Scotland Published 52 minutes ago Successive defeats. Seven points off the Scottish Premiership summit.

Four points behind second place. Rangers' title challenge has been dismantled in two games after Danny Rohl's side had, in his own words, "worked so hard" to get in the fight. Eight days on from a 3-2 loss at home to Motherwell that featured a winning goal in added time, Rohl took his players to Tynecastle knowing they realistically had to win or at least draw to preserve their hopes.

Match Details

Forty-five minutes in, those hopes were high. Dujon Sterling's deflected volley had Rangers in front and their overall performance merited such a lead. By 90 minutes, Hearts had scored twice without reply and Rangers, save for a late header off the bar by Thelo Aasgaard, never looked like recovering.

And therein lies Rangers' Achilles heel this season - the inability to consistently produce over 90 minutes. 'Mentality questions' for 'choking' Rangers "We knew that they would come with power," Rohl told Scotland afterwards. "They played much, much more direct in behind.

We had less pressure on the ball and then you have to defend in critical areas very often. "We have to learn from this, we have a young, potential squad but this is a job in the next weeks and months to improve. " The youthfulness and inexperience of Rangers' squad perhaps accounts for some of their inconsistency.

Reactions and Expectations

Against Motherwell, Rangers were outplayed in the first half and trailed 2-0. They improved markedly in the second half and battled back to level only for Well to score again. In the previous game, Rangers also conceded two first-half goals but eventually ran out 6-3 winners at Falkirk.

They also had to recover from two down to draw with Livingston and were 2-0 up on Celtic after an impressive first half but ultimately drew 2-2. Those Celtic, Motherwell and Hearts games in particular have undone the progress made previously under Rohl this term. A total of 12 league draws has not helped either.

Rangers had lost just twice in 33 games before the split, and have now lost consecutive games at the most crucial stage of the campaign. Former Rangers forward Kris Boyd gave his assessment on Rangers in the wake of their Tynecastle loss on Sky Sports. "There will be mentality questions asked of Rangers," he said.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.