Rankin says another late fightback from Motherwell gave Hibs a fright over fourth spot

The little midfielder left the pitch at Tannadice along with his jubilant team-mates, celebrating a 2-0 victory over Dundee United and having been told Craig Brown's side had gone down 3-1 at Ibrox.

It was a winning combination of results, one which secured a fourth-place finish in the

SPL table for Hibs and with it guaranteed Europa League football next season.

But their joy was cut short as they hit the away dressing-room to discover Motherwell, having staged a storming comeback from 6-2 to force a draw with Hibs a few days earlier, had repeated the feat by scoring two late goals against Rangers.

With that news came the stunning realisation that one more goal for the Steelmen would undo all the good work on Tayside, leaving Hibs to sweat over the outcome of this weekend's Active Nation Scottish Cup final between United and Ross County and the knowledge a Hampden victory for the First Division side would mean even fifth place wouldn't be enough for Europe.

Thankfully for Rankin and the rest of John Hughes' players, they learned almost immediately that the final whistle had gone at Ibrox, the game had ended in a 3-3 draw and their place in Europe was assured.

Admitting his heart had sunk momentarily, Rankin said: "We were unaware of how things were going in Glasgow until we came off and heard Rangers were winning 3-1 which meant we'd taken fourth place.

"By the time we got to the dressing-room, however, we were told it was now 3-3. I thought it was a wind-up and there was a bit of an attack of the nerves because one more goal for Motherwell would have left us in fifth place and having to rely on United winning the Cup.

"Seconds later, we heard that's how it had finished at Ibrox which was a big relief." And Rankin insisted those late Motherwell goals, scored by Steve Jennings and Lukas Jutkiewicz – who had grabbed a last-ditch equaliser in that 12-goal epic at Fir Park – had vindicated Hibs' own approach to their match at Tannadice.

He said: "We knew we had to take care of our own business. We had to win, then there was nothing more we could have done regardless of what happened with Motherwell.

"We thought a draw wouldn't be enough and that's how it turned out and we wanted to be able to look ourselves in the mirror, no matter how it went, and say: 'We gave it everything'.

"After the disappointing few weeks we'd had and that draw at Fir Park, I think everyone believed it wasn't going to be for us but the boys showed their character, rose to the challenge and you'd take a 2-0 win at a place like Tannadice every day of the week."

And having seen his hat-trick against Motherwell overshadowed by that late collapse, Rankin insisted it was entirely appropriate it was lifelong Hibs fan Colin Nish who had got the two goals which finally propelled the team over the finishing line.

While Nish has spent much of the season living in the shadow of Anthony Stokes and Derek Riordan, his five goals in the final two games of the season brought his own tally to 12 but even then, Rankin revealed, the big striker wasn't happy at having missed the chance to claim successive hat-tricks as he sent a late chance into the arms of United goalkeeper Dusan Pernis.

He said: "Big Colin has done brilliantly, he's scored some vital goals, the three at Fir Park and now another two. But, while we were all delighted to have finally won a place in Europe, Colin still wasn't happy, he felt he should have had another hat-trick."

If Hibs didn't quite clinch European football in the style most imagined they would three months ago, Rankin insisted that they'd finally done so on merit.

He said: "The league table doesn't lie, over the course of the season we have shown we deserve to be where we are. Of course we are all disappointed with what has happened recently, talk of challenging the Old Firm replaced by aiming for third and finally fourth.

"But you have to reassess your targets as the season goes on. Every team falls off the bus at some point, the trick is getting back on as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, for us it didn't happen as quickly as we'd have liked.

"Going into the split and realising third place had gone, the best we could do was fourth and that became our target.

"We slipped up against Motherwell, scoring six shows the goals we have in the side but you can't go away from home, get that many but also lose the same number. Football, though, is a strange game at times, we go from losing six to keeping a clean sheet all in the space of a few days. A lot of people have criticised us but we rose to the challenge and got there in the end."

While devastated by the manner in which that four-goal lead had been surrendered against Motherwell, Rankin revealed how Hughes had lifted the players' spirits before making the trip to Tayside. He said: "After having Thursday off, we came in on Friday thinking things would be pretty low. But the gaffer organised a head tennis tournament at 2 a head which got everyone going and then on Saturday we had a round-robin five-a-side competition which also helped lift spirits.

"Now there's a real buzz about the place, European football to look forward to after the summer holidays."

By then, of course, a few familiar faces may have gone as Hughes seeks to strengthen his squad, the tears of Moroccan striker Abdessalam Benjelloun as he made his way to the dressing-room at Tannadice telling their own story.

Although Hughes has insisted no decisions have yet been made on the players who are out-of-contract, Benji appears to have acknowledged that his Easter Road career is over, the highlight, of course, being his two goals as Hibs lifted the CIS Insurance Cup with that memorable 5-1 win over Kilmarnock.

Rankin said: "Benji had a wee moment to himself in the dressing-room. I think it seems he believes he is leaving. He's been a great guy to have around, the fans have loved him and you could see that by the way they cheered him off.

"But that's football, Benji will, if he leaves, go on to a new challenge and someone else will come here looking for exactly the same in their career."