Hearts will welcome back big centre-forward Uche Ikpeazu for Sunday’s Scottish Premiership clash against Rangers at Ibrox

Uche Ikpeazu has only scored one goal in five Scottish Premiership games since he made his move from Cambridge United to Hearts permanent in the summer.
Nonetheless, claims that he could return from injury ahead of Sunday’ crunch clash at Ibrox should be a big concern for Rangers.
Ikpeazu has missed the last three games with a foot injury but, according to Edinburgh News, he is in line to be back in Craig Levein’s squad this weekend. And this could be a problem for a Rangers defence that looked very shaky in the 1-0 defeat to Livingston last Sunday.
After all, while Ikpeazu is not a prolific goalscorer he is certainly a player who could give Steven Gerrard’s side a big headache.
The Englishman is a powerful, physical and unselfish centre-forward who occupies and bullies defenders, while opening up space for Hearts’ nine-goal danger-man Steven Naismith. Joe Worrall, who looked slightly uneasy against Livingston, will face another major test should Ikpeazu return for the league leaders.

As it stands, Hearts are top of the table and eight points clear of a Rangers side who are down in sixth. If Gerrard’s side want to stop their Edinburgh opponents pulling even further clear, they will need to be very wary of Ikpeazu.

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