Michael Beale has addressed Alex Lowry's situation after Rangers were drawn against Heart of Midlothian in the semi-finals of the Viaplay Cup.

The talented playmaker scored the winner for the Tynecastle outfit in dramatic fashion in a 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Tuesday night. The 20-year-old's neat drag back and arrowed finish saw Steven Naismith's men progress into the last four of the League Cup to relieve a bit of the pressure from the stands at the club.

Rangers joined the Edinburgh giants, along with Hibernian and Aberdeen, in the next round of the competition last night by defeating Livingston on home soil in the quarters.

Lowry has enjoyed a mixed start to life on loan at Hearts, with game time from the start not always forthcoming. But Beale is pleased with his progress under Naismith as he revealed the player will not be involved in the semi clash in November, as per the loan agreement between the clubs.

He said: “Alex Lowry, our boy, went there and scored a fantastic finish so I’m delighted for him and he won’t be able to play. I went to see him at the weekend and Steven has done a good job and both semi-finals look like fantastic games on paper. It’s exciting.”

He continued: "They are the team I have watched probably the most this season because of Alex. I was at their game last week and unfortunately, he didn’t get on against St Mirren which was a good game.

"I think both ties look very, very good for the neutral and good for the competition. It’s quite a long way off with the amount of games we’ve got but it will be a really good day out for everybody when we get there.

"There’s no point getting to a semi-final without wanting to go back for the big day out in December. That will be our focus. Right now we need to recover and play against Aberdeen in two days' time."