Hibs captain David Marshall reveals special reaction in Easter Road tunnel to fans' Ron Gordon tribute

Hibs captain David Marshall witnessed the impact of the fans’ powerful rendition of Sunshine of Leith as he waited to lead the team out of the tunnel prior to Wednesday night’s match against Rangers.

Belted out in tribute to the club’s late owner Ron Gordon, who passed away last month, the volume and passion made a tangible impression on more than just the players.

“It certainly inspired the players in the first 10 minutes because it was a special noise and when the first goal went in we thought it was written in the stars. Unfortunately it was not to be.

“I’ve been in some atmospheres in my career, luckily, but that was pretty special. We were told to hold back until halfway through the song and I had a little mascot saying to me that he was scared of the [thought of the ] noise walking out. But then he burst into song in the tunnel.

Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall saves from Rangers' Borna Barisic during the Ibrox side's 4-1 win at Easter Road. Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group

“It was a pretty special tribute, the fans did the family proud, unfortunately we couldn’t back that up with the result.”

Too many players fell short of the standards they have set in recent Premiership matches, when they were totting up a seven game unbeaten run to make a mockery of calls for manager Lee Johnson’s head. Included in the below par showing was the former Scotland keeper. Although he pulled off a couple of top reaction blocks, Marshall was culpable at Rangers’ third goal as he sent a clearance out to visiting midfielder Ryan Jack, who played in the effervescent Fashion Sakala to slot home.

“I know it’s easy to say but all the goals were glaring individual errors, and that’s the most disappointing thing,” said Marshall. “We did not play as well as we had done in the previous seven games.

“It was tough. We were excellent at the start of the game, got the goal, and then their penalty came so quickly. That took the wind out of our sails a little bit. And, to be fair to Rangers, they’re in a good run of form and they played really well.”

Buoyed by recent results and their march up the table and into fourth place, Hibs had fancied their chances of serving up a victory or, at the very least a share of the spoils, against a team they drew with earlier in the season.

Instead, they were fortunate to escape with the loss of just four goals and a little bit of their dignity. But while the result stung, Marshall said that with a head-to-head with league leaders next on the fixture card, followed by a charge towards the split, the Easter Road players cannot afford to wallow.

“We’ve spoken about it and we know we need to bounce back. We have five games before the split and it’s almost a mini run-in now, we need to put ourselves in a good position.

“We play Celtic next and then we don’t play again until April. So it’s a strange time but we won’t be lacking confidence. The club is in a better position since the window closed.

“We just have to show it on the pitch and I am sure we have enough in us to have a good end to the season.”