Hibs boss admits Rangers best team league has ever seen after Sky Sports Cup final defeat

Dean Gibson, the Hibs manager, has insisted that his side need to remember the pain of losing the Sky Sports Cup final to Rangers in order that it fuels their resolve if and when they next find themselves in a final.

Hibs players look dejected as they receive their runners-up medals after losing 2-0 to Rangers in the SWPL Sky Sports Cup final at Tynecastle Park. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

The record holders with seven victories in the tournament, Hibs never troubled Rangers at any point during the game at Tynecastle with the Ibrox side’s victory entirely straightforward. Hibs were disconsolate at the end as Gibson gathered them together in a post-match huddle with the Easter Road manager revealing the message he passed on.

“I was telling them to keep their heads up because we are a young squad - seven are 23 and under,” he said. “So I wanted them to appreciate what they have achieved but also I wanted them to remember that feeling of being deflated. The next time we get to a final we want to be a bit happier.”

Gibson, meanwhile, believes that Rangers are the best team that the women’s game has so far seen in Scotland. It is high praise considering that Glasgow City have twice made it the quarter-final stage of the women’s Champions League.

“That is the best team that this league has seen,” said Gibson emphatically. “There is no-one who will really touch them.”

Lizzie Arnot, who opened the scoring with a fierce angled effort, explained that that the culture around the club has fostered a particular psychology among the Rangers players as she accepted that they are comfortable being the team that everyone wants to beat. This win in the Sky Sports Cup would mark out Rangers as the favourites to now go on and clinch a domestic treble.

“Since I have come here and the club has been professional there is a level of expectation and we need to use that as a privilege,” she said. “It has created a winning mentality at the club. The goal is definitely up there. It is one of the best and the fact it came in a Cup final and in a stadium like Tynecastle made it all the sweeter.”