Hearts 0 Rangers 1: A late Nacho Novo strike handed Rangers a crucial win at Tynecastle and plunged crisis club Hearts deeper into turmoil.

It was a game both teams were desperate to win and the victory allowed Gers to strengthen their grasp on second spot in the Bank of Scotland Premier League.

Despite a thrilling show on the park — which saw seven yellow cards dished out by referee Dougie McDonald — events off the field threatened to overshadow the game.

Chants of "there's only one Steven Pressley" rang out around Tynecastle, but his Hearts future was no clearer ahead of the game. Pressley has kept a dignified silence all week, but fans will fear he could be set for a January departure after failing to reclaim his place in the starting XI today.

He missed their last game amid reports of a plot to strip him of the captaincy and was named on the bench for today's clash.

Christophe Berra had deputised for the inspirational skipper at Falkirk and the captain's armband this time went to Paul Hartley, further adding to the confusion at Tynecastle.

With fans threatening to stage a protest after the game, it was unclear whether majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov made the trip to Edinburgh from his Lithuanian base for the match.

And another week of drama and turmoil at Hearts meant it almost went unnoticed that Rangers were themselves also a club in crisis ahead of the match.

They were desperate to build on last week's win over Dunfermline after a string of poor results forced Ibrox chairman David Murray to publicly back manager Paul Le Guen after just four months in the job.