David Edgar shares Robin Propper start ahead of Rangers v Hearts showdown

David Edgar believes new signing Robin Propper should be in the starting XI when Rangers face Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday (3 August).

 

The Gers kick off their league season by travelling to Tynecastle to take on Hearts, with Philippe Clement’s side now finished with their pre-season matches.

Following Connor Goldson’s exit to Aris Limassol, the Gers have already added another centre-back to the squad in Propper, though he has only just arrived, with the season starting in the next 48 hours.

 

Taking to X on Thursday (1 August), the Heart and Hand podcast founder wrote: “Normally people say you shouldn’t put Propper in on Saturday if he’s not trained with the squad yet but given our defence has spent the pre-season looking like they’ve never met anyway, we might as well.

If Rangers’ pre-season results are anything to go by – three losses and a draw – they could be in danger of starting the league season negatively against a very dangerous Hearts side.

Clement will be well aware of the threat that Lawrence Shankland possesses, having been linked with a move to Ibrox throughout the summer transfer window.

 

John Souttar and Ben Davies are likely to be the starting partnership at the back, with Leon Balogun and Clinton Nsiala playing limited minutes throughout pre-season, but the manager might be willing to risk Propper from the start.

Although the Dutchman has not had any time to bond with his teammates, the centre-half is a natural leader, with some suggesting already that he should be given the captain’s armband.

At 30 years of age, Propper is no rookie and has racked up plenty of experience across spells with De Graafschap, Heracles and FC Twente in the Netherlands