Hibs' Adam Bogdan happy to leave Rangers boss Steven Gerrard cursing

Adam Bogdan made some stunning saves and helped Hibs to keep out 27 shots on goal by Rangers. Picture: SNS

Adam Bogdan had been anticipating 90 minutes watching from the bench but,with just over 10 minutes gone, Hibs’ starting goalie Ofir Marciano suffered a calf strain and was unable to continue.

Bogdan said: “It’s not easy you have this big heartbeat and you see you have to warm up, it’s not ideal.

“But sometimes you do the best warm-up possible and you don’t have a good game so I think the main thing is just to keep focused purely on your job and if you do that you see you can come in and make saves,” added the Hungarian.

The on-loan Liverpool keeper made several interventions, with opposition boss and former Kop favourite Steven Gerrard admitting he had been cursing him as he proved himself as stubbornly defiant as the rest of the Hibs defence, who combined to repel anything Rangers could throw at them. On a night when Gerrard hailed his side’s performance as arguably their best away from home during his tenure, that amounted to wave after wave of attack.

“Given I was not starting I am really pleased with how it turned out,” said the 31 year-old. “We kept a clean sheet, we defended with our bodies inside the box. There were a few too many chances for my liking that Rangers created but we kept a clean sheet, the third in a row, so that’s a very good positive and we can go into Saturday’s game confident but knowing we need to do more to win.”

The 0-0 stalemate ensured that, after a tough seven-game streak without a win, the Leith outfit have now taken seven points from their last three games, including back-to-back visits by Celtic and Rangers and, while Bogdan played no part in the victories over Hamilton and Celtic, he is hoping he has now been handed a second shot at the starting goalkeeper berth.

Featuring in 17 of the side’s 26 games this season, he may well have been preparing himself for a spell on the sidelines following the return of Marciano from injury but the Israeli’s untimely setback, allied to Bogdan’s impressive cover should offer him another chance to convince manager Neil Lennon that he is worth favouring.

“When you have the opportunity to play and if you do well you are likely to keep it.

“If you do not do well or the team doesn’t do well then ultimately you are vulnerable to change but, at the moment, I am happy. I did what I could do [against Rangers] and, hopefully, I can do the same on  Saturday, the game after that and the next game and the next game and the next.”

Tomorrow, Hibs welcome Livingston to Easter Road, well aware of the damage the West Lothian side can do to aspirations.

Gary Holt’s men won the last time the teams met but that was at Almondvale. On the road they have been less clinical, with just one away win in the league this term, while the last time they captured even a point on their travels was at the start of October. The game affords Hibs, who currently sit eighth in the table, a solid opportunity to claim the victory and leapfrog Livingston in the Premiership standings. Bogdan added: “In every game there’s a lot of positives and some negatives but to have two clean sheets against the two biggest clubs in the country that’s a very big positive and you can go into Saturday feeling positive. We didn’t have the results we wanted but we came out of it and now we have to make sure we stay and concentrate and make these performances to allow us to climb up the table.”