HEARTS have proof that size isn't everything.

Tynecastle is the seventh biggest football ground in Scotland and plenty of neutrals would have it at number one for atmosphere. The old place is going to be at its deafening, intoxicating best when Rangers come to town at lunchtime today. Hearts have cut the allocation of away tickets in half and only 1300 visiting fans will be in the Roseburn Stand. It will make no difference to the volume levels.

No sound wave has ever scored a goal or made a telling tackle, but anyone who has ever seen Hearts take on Hibs, Celtic or Rangers could not fail to be moved by the power and energy pouring from the steep, claustrophobic Roseburn, Gorgie, Wheatfield and Main stands. Being able to plug into this magnificent arena doesn't exactly make Hearts an irresistible force - Celtic won 7-0 there in the Scottish Cup last season and Rangers' last visit, in 2012, was a 3-0 stroll - but few are in any doubt that it lifts them and helps turn most of their major home fixtures into frenetic assaults on the senses.

"It generates a fantastic atmosphere when it's full," said Ally McCoist, the Rangers manager. "It's one of those stadiums that is tight and compact, with the supporters right on you. There are good teams throughout history, not just Rangers ones, who have gone to Tynecastle and struggled. Did they not beat Bayern Munich 1-0 when Iain Ferguson scored many moons ago? It's a place that can be intimidating if you allow it to be. But certainly our players will not - in any way, shape or form - be intimidated by the atmosphere. They will relish it.

"Tynecastle is one of my favourite grounds in the country, with the atmosphere and the fact that the stands are steeper and the fans are right down on top of you. It's a great place to play. Even one or two of our lads who haven't experienced Tynecastle's atmosphere will enjoy it. I'd be very hopeful they'd enjoy it but it won't do us any harm at all to have players who have sampled it before."

Pillars such as Lee McCulloch, Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller have sampled it umpteen times. Ian Black and David Templeton played the last time Rangers were at Tynecastle, but they were on the losing side with Hearts. Nicky Law, Richard Foster, Stevie Smith and Jon Daly also know what to expect. Only Lewis Macleod, of McCoist's strongest side, has yet to experience the Hearts choir in full voice.

The most eagerly awaited Championship game of the season - in fact, the most eagerly awaited game in all the Scottish divisions so far this season - is very difficult to call. Rangers have failed both their toughest Championships tests so far this season, losing at home to Hearts and Hibs. Last week they spilled more points at home to Alloa. But in cup ties they have beaten Premiership opponents Inverness Caledonian Thistle and St Johnstone. On paper they appear to have stronger players than Hearts in most positions, but the paper on which the league table is printed shows beyond dispute that Hearts have been the best unit in the division in the 13 games played up to this point. They are unbeaten in the league and have won all six of their home games, scoring 22 times and conceding only four.

Rangers are six points behind and if that were to extend to nine because of another defeat today a firestorm of anger and recriminations would engulf McCoist. Miller, 34, was calm when talking about the campaign yesterday and attempted to rubbish the notion that losing would be the end of the world. "I don't know about people writing us off because that would just be ludicrous. What are we . . . 13 or 14 games into the season? Just over a third of the way through the season? So to write anyone off now . . .

"It's far from over, no matter what happens in this game. I don't approach the game thinking we are the underdogs, that's for sure. Listen, we have a lot of players who have been here before and who have actually played for Hearts so they will know what it's like on the other side too. We'll know what to expect.

"They are great games to play in. It's got that tight atmosphere, the pitch feels smaller, the fans are right on top of you. They are great games to play in. They always seem to be tight, tight games with a hostile environment to go and play in, but it's one that you thrive off. If you get that goal it will silence the crowd, apart from our 1500 [sic] supporters who will be singing. The vast majority will be sulking."

Rangers have had another week of rancour and distress: more dreary, self-serving mudslinging among Sandy Easdale, David Somers, Dave King, Brian Kennedy and Sir David Murray, more strain behind-the-scenes with 10 members of staff made redundant in the long and losing battle to equate expenditure with income.

"We are all really sorry that we've lost people at the club who have worked here for a long, long time and given the club tremendous and loyal service," said McCoist. "We are sorry to see them go, but as sorry as we are, we can't have a bearing on it. . The only thing we can have an effect on are the games that we play."

About 90 per cent of the Tynecastle crowd will be unforgiving towards Rangers today. And if McCoist's team lose, plenty of away fans will add to the noise by shouting that he should be on his way out too.