CONCERNS that the non-payment of wages might have had a negative impact on the efforts of Hearts players yesterday proved without foundation.

Despite, once again, not being remunerated by the Tynecastle club last week, there could be no faulting the commitment of those in maroon.

Paulo Sergio’s men chased every lost cause, threw themselves into every 50/50 ball and harried their opponents -- with a couple of fatal exceptions -- remorselessly for every pulsating minute.

It was all the 12,000 or so of their supporters who packed the ground deserved for their backing. Marius Zaliukas and his team-mates are due great credit for not allowing alarming issues off the pitch to affect them on it. Employers who treat employees so shabbily are undeserving of such loyalty.

Ultimately, it was being unable to afford decent quality in the final third which prevented Hearts from taking something rather than an absence of desire. They had their chances but Ryan Stevenson, Eggert Jonsson, David Templeton and, worst of all, Adrian Mrowiec, all failed to punish their Glasgow opponents.

In stark contrast, Steven Naismith and substitute Nikica Jelavic, with his first touch of the ball after replacing Kyle Lafferty, clinically buried the opportunities which came their way.

Sergio kept faith with the same XI who beat Dunfermline Athletic in their league outing at East End Park the previous week. With Lee McCulloch being afforded a start for Rangers in a Clydesdale Bank Premier League game for the first time since the end of July, his side desperately needed to match the visitors’ physicality in the centre of the park.

That, however, is not a trait in short supply in this robust Hearts team; Jonsson and Mrowiec are certainly not prone to pulling out of challenges.

Nor, for that matter, is Ian Black. The confrontational Scot welcomed the challenge of squaring up to the holding midfielder. He sent him sprawling to the turf with one of his trademark meaty tackles early on in an often fiery encounter and did not relent thereafter. To be fair to McCulloch, neither did he.

Yet, for all their bravery and honest toil, the home team created precious little to trouble Ally McCoist’s defence in the first 45 minutes. The closest they came was when Rudi Skacel struck a ferocious shot from the edge of the area just before half-time.

Allan McGregor was equal to it and the visiting support breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was not the last time he was to come to the rescue of his side. McGregor was called upon to save his team on numerous occasions in the second half and did so on every one.

His double block from two Stevenson attempts was the highlight of a fine showing. He was, though, let off the hook by Mrowiec when the Pole inexplicably snatched a close range shot with an empty net beckoning.

The last time Sergio managed a team against Rangers he was in charge of Sporting Lisbon; the Portuguese lost his job after being knocked out of the Europa League by them last season. There is no chance, not even with a club owner like Vladimir Romanov, of Sergio suffering the same fate after this disappointing reverse.

However, unless he finds a cutting edge up front then he is sure to go the same way as his predecessors unless Romanov fails to quell the unrest among his first team squad and Sergio walks away of his own accord.

A good start would be depositing their overdue wages in their bank accounts this week. They deserve it for their display yesterday.