McCoist is wary of fired-up Hibs

Rangers aim to put a period of stuttering form behind them at Easter Road today. Last weekend’s nervy 2-1 win over Dunfermline did little to ease anxiety among their fans, with Celtic having seemingly recovered from their own difficulties earlier in the season.

A lunch-time appointment with a side hoping to benefit from the lift a new manager tends to give is another serious challenge that needs to be overcome by Rangers. Ally McCoist is alert to the danger posed by Hibernian, whose new manager, Pat Fenlon, is raring to go following the frustration of seeing last Friday’s game with Motherwell abandoned at half-time, with his side 1-0 up.

“He’ll be bursting for the Hibs boys to do well,” said McCoist. “He did get a reaction in the game at Motherwell. I saw Garry O’Connor’s goal – he took it well again.

“They’re a strange side, Hibs, because we’ve done all right the last couple of times at Easter Road but they’ve turned us over a couple of times at Ibrox. Without being critical of them at all, I think they’ve struggled a little bit with consistency, but on their day they can be a match for anybody. Again we saw that, with a new coach coming into the club, the players definitely get a reaction. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. For his first home game the Hibs fans – like the Hearts fans – will create a great atmosphere. It’s a great place to go and play and I think it will be a bit tasty there tomorrow.”

Rangers might well benefit from their own extra burst of motivation following Sone Aluko’s much disputed two-match ban for simulation during last Saturday’s match against Dunfermline. McCoist has had his say on that elsewhere and he ruled out using what he considers to be a grievance as a motivational tool today. He did, however, add that he is not able to speak for his players. Perhaps they will feel as though they have been unfairly deprived of someone described by McCoist as Rangers’ most creative player in their last two games.

“It’s not something that I plan [to do], believe me,” he said, when asked if he will make reference to the Aluko case prior to the match today. “It’s just something that I felt had to be said and I won’t be using it in any pre-match talks or anything like that – far from it. Our boys know the importance of the game without me going over old ground about Sone. They’re intelligent enough to know how important the game is tomorrow.”

Asked if he sensed that the players were unhappy with the outcome of the SFA’s Fast Track Tribunal at Hampden on Thursday, he said: “I don’t know. If they are, so be it, good. I don’t feel it’s a requirement. We know the importance of [the game] without the details of this week. We definitely know what’s required.”

McCoist is confident that Rangers are re-discovering the form that saw them establish a handsome lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League. Home draws with St Johnstone and St Mirren and a defeat by Kilmarnock a fortnight ago, coupled with Celtic’s resurgence, have left Rangers looking far less imperious at the top.

“I thought we were better last week [against Dunfermline],” McCoist said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. If not very good, I thought we were good for 35 minutes against Dunfermline. We created more chances last week than we have done in the two previous games. We’re still not converting them, or certainly not as many as we should.

“But I don’t think it’s a massive problem. I’m really confident the boys can pull together and go to Easter Road and get a result.”

A Rangers player has not scored a competitive goal from open play since Nikica Jelavic struck his side’s first goal in the 3-1 win over Dundee United, more than a month ago. Their bid to rectify this record has not been helped by Kyle Lafferty being ruled out today due to a back spasm. Lee Wallace and Carlos Bocanegra should, however, return. McCoist praised the contribution of Thomas Bendiksen and Kane Hemmings, two youngsters who have been promoted to the first team in recent weeks.

“We’re delighted with the two of them,” he said. “Thomas did well for an hour [against Dunfermline] and Hemmings has certainly shown that he can handle the situation in the first team. I thought Hemmings did really well in the game over in Hamburg, albeit it was a friendly. Bendiksen was the same. I would have absolutely no problems about starting either of them.”