Walter Smith puzzled by Hibs' poor run of form since Ibrox win

LIKE anyone else who watched his side being dismantled by Hibs at Ibrox two months ago, Rangers manager Walter Smith finds himself at a loss to understand the dramatic slide down the SPL table subsequently suffered by the Easter Road club.

In what has proven to be one of only two victories Colin Calderwood has so far managed to achieve since taking charge, Hibs dished out a comprehensive 3-0 beating to the startled champions on 10 November. As Smith prepares for tonight's meeting of the teams in Leith, he can scarcely credit the predicament facing Calderwood and his players just three points clear of the bottom of the table.

"It's a bit of a mystery as far as I'm concerned," observed Smith. "I have to say that the way Hibs played at Ibrox, in the first half hour especially, was as good as any team has played against us in a long time.

"Although from my own point of view I didn't think we handled the situation very well and weren't very good on the night, you still have to give Hibs credit.

"Overall, they thoroughly deserved their win that night. So it's a wee bit surprising for me that they find themselves in the position that they are in at the present moment.

"I would agree with Colin Calderwood in that I think on the evidence of that game at Ibrox they certainly have the capability to get out of trouble. So for us, we'll go there expecting nothing less than another extremely difficult game in the capital."

Smith will settle for a repeat of the performance level produced by Rangers in Edinburgh four days ago, while obviously seeking a different outcome than the 1-0 defeat they suffered against Hearts at Tynecastle.

"It was no real consolation on the day that the performance was good against Hearts," he added, "although the fact we did play really well is obviously the first thing any manager sets out to achieve in the first place.

"Hearts are a fairly direct team and for them to hardly have an attempt on goal was testimony to the way our team defended. We had good possession and created good opportunities, especially in the opening half hour of the game. So we're delighted with the way we played but disappointed not to have that cutting edge at the end of it."

Smith is hopeful that finishing touch can be provided by Nikica Jelavic, who is in line to make his first starting appearance since his return from injury. The Croatian striker has looked threatening, if understandably short of sharpness, in his two substitute outings against Inverness and Hearts.Jelavic represents the most obvious source of regular goals for Rangers following the sale of Kenny Miller to Bursaspor, although Smith does not accept the Scotland striker's departure was a key factor in their failure to turn their dominance at Tynecastle into goals. "That's a simple analysis," he said, "and we had three games prior to Saturday, when Kenny played, when he didn't score. So it's not as simple as that. I do know that, if we play as well as we did against Hearts, we will score goals. We won't go through a period of playing like that without scoring.

"Now that Jelavic has had a couple of outings as a sub, he is closer to starting a game. It will take him a few games to get back to full match sharpness but you can see in training that scoring goals is a natural instinct for him. We just hope that gets transferred into games as quickly as possible.

"He is also a good all-round player. We are just hoping to see the best of him in the second half of the season, which would alleviate any situation we have with Kenny Miller leaving. Hopefully Nikica can make up for it in the same way Kenny did when Kris Boyd left."

Vladimir Weiss, who tonight returns to the ground where he made his debut in August as a substitute in Rangers' 3-0 win, has no fears about compensating for the loss of Miller.

"We are confident there are goals in our team," said the Slovakian winger. "Jelavic is back and can score many goals and we also have Steven Naismith, Kyle Lafferty and myself. Kenny got a hat-trick that day I made my debut at Easter Road and it was a game I'll never forget because it allowed me to make a good first impression on the Rangers fans.

"We know we have now lost one of our best players but we need to get on with it and show the strength of the squad."