Hibs reluctant to change for Rangers as Adam Le Fondre shuts down Ibrox concerns - 'I turned round to see who was giving me it and it was little kids'

Nick Montgomery smiled as the question was delivered to him, like a man who had been well-briefed on what was to come.

“Not really,” the Hibs manager replied when asked if he had any inclination towards a more cautious team selection, given the increased threat posed by Rangers when the two teams meet at Ibrox on Saturday. “I think anyone who has seen the way I’ve played since I got the job will see I like to play attacking football and create a lot of opportunities. You attack with 10 and defend with 10. But we’re not stupid, we have to be aware they’ve got some of the best players in the league and they’ve got a very good squad. We’re not going to be naive and think we can throw bodies forward and not track back. We have to be competitive and show that we can go into big games and put in a good performance.”

Five games into his Hibs tenure and Montgomery has already carved out a reputation as an attack-minded, risk-taking manager. So far undefeated since coming in to replace Lee Johnson last month, Hibs have played an aggressive 4-4-2 formation and often have four forwards on the pitch. Last time out, it looked for 60 minutes that they were about to come unstuck in the derby against Hearts, trailing 2-0 before staging an impressive comeback. It begged the poser: are Hibs too cavalier? Montgomery, however, has full belief in his system as he and his players look to rain on new Rangers manager Philippe Clement’s Ibrox parade.

Hibs are in a good place right now. Rangers, perhaps less so. Three defeats in their opening seven league matches forced their board to sack Michael Beale and replace him with former Monaco manager Clement, who started work on Monday. The 49-year-old has a similar lead-in time to his first match as Montgomery did for his Hibs bow and the Easter Road boss expects a reaction of sorts.

Adam Le Fondre has heard stories about playing at Ibrox.

“If you saw what we did within a week before we went to Kilmarnock I think we changed a lot but really, you have to have the buy-in from the players,” explained Montgomery. “The players have to buy into you quite early to implement what you want them to. I can’t talk about what Philippe has done this week, they had players on international duty like we did in my first week and you really only get about 48 hours with them. It’s not ideal but it’s a home game for them so it’s probably a little bit easier than going away from home and I’m sure he’ll try to implement as much as he possibly can in a short space of time.”

“It’s the first interaction with the players and you have to be pretty straight on what you’re looking for. He’s a manager with a lot of experience and success at big clubs, I’m sure the players were ready for someone to come in and I’m sure he delivered the message he needed to on day one and then spent the rest of the week trying to implement what he wants from them. But you’re talking very good players, high-quality players that probably have a high game intelligence so a lot of information but they’ll be used to that.

“You can expect a hostile environment. The fans will be buoyed by bringing in a new coach because that’s what they wanted. The pressure is on him now to perform and implement what he wants and I’m sure they all want that quickly, but it is his first game and they won’t expect miracles. But they’re a high quality team with a huge budget and I’m sure they’ll be happy to have a manager.”

Ibrox is famously intimidating for opposition teams – but one Hibs player will be far from cowed by the whole occasion. Adam Le Fondre is now 36 and has experience of playing at many different venues. He believes an afternoon in Govan will do well to top what he experienced as a player when facing Millwall.

Adam Le Fondre enjoyed scoring goals against Millwall, who he says offered one of the most hostile environments he has encountered.

“I would probably say Millwall or West Ham when they were at Upton Park,” the amiable Englishman replied when asked about the most hostile stadium he has played at. “Both of them were really intimidating places.

“When I first moved to Reading we played Millwall away [in 2012], and I was on the bench. As you can imagine, warming up down the side of the pitch, being small, I was getting abused. I won’t repeat what they were saying, obviously, but I was getting a hell of a lot of abuse. I turned round to see who was giving me it – and it was little kids. There are these 12-year-olds giving me abuse and their dads are high-fiving them! I just thought: ‘Oh my God …’

“I managed to score in the game, the winner, and I ran down the touchline gesturing at them to shut up. And then I thought: ‘Why have I done that? They’re going to batter me!’ That was really the most hostile, the most vitriol and spew being thrown at you. And West Ham was similar.”

As a result, Ibrox will hold no fears for Le Fondre. “The boys have just told me it’s a great atmosphere,” he added. “I’ve played in enough big stadiums to know the crowd is going to be great. This is something I’m excited about. It whets my appetite, playing in these sorts of games. Because they’re historical, great clubs with a massive fan based. I’ve watched games from there over the years, the big derby, just thinking: ‘Wow, they’re so passionate.’ That is what Scottish and English football have over different brands of football – the fans are second to none.”

Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall is fit after coming off injured against Hearts, while fellow shot-stopper Jojo Wollacot is added to the squad following a thigh complaint.