Scottish Cup: John Souttar says Rangers quarter-final a 'free hit' for Hearts

Stephen Naismith and Liam Boyce scored in a 2-1 victory against Rangers in January

Hearts defender John Souttar says Saturday's Scottish Cup quarter-final against Rangers is a "free hit" because "all their attention" is on staying in the Premiership.

Daniel Stendel's side host Rangers at Tynecastle having beaten them 2-1 in January in the Premiership.

But they are still bottom of the league, two points off the play-off place and six behind St Mirren in 10th.

"Our attention is on the league, we have to stay up," Souttar said.

"It's almost a free hit for us because it's a cup game and it's Rangers. All our attention is on the league and anything that happens on Saturday is a bonus."

• Stendel eyes repeat Rangers victory

The victory against Rangers last month proved something of a false dawn for Hearts, having taken just two points from the four league games since.

They reached the final of the Scottish Cup last season under Craig Levein, losing 2-1 to Celtic at Hampden having taken the lead.

Souttar believes progression to the last four again can give the team a morale boost to help with their league form, even if it is not a priority.

"It would be huge," the 23-year-old said. "It's been a difficult season for everyone at the club so for us to get to a semi-final would bring back a feel-good factor to the whole place. I think that's needed just now.

Asked why the squad have been struggling this season, Souttar added: "It's difficult to put my finger on a specific reason. There's a lot of different things, boys not performing, things just not going for us, but it's done now so there's no point dwelling on it.

"We've got 11 games to stay up so we've got to be positive. There's no point looking back and thinking what went wrong. We have to get results."