Hibs’ Head Coach Alan Stubbs was at Ibrox midweek to watch Sunday’s opponents Rangers draw 2-2 with Alloa Athletic, a result which leaves the Easter Road side six points clear in second place, but he insists that he is concentrating on how his players perform rather than what happens elsewhere.
Stubbs goes into Sunday’s game knowing that three points would go a long way to securing second spot and the potential to play to less play off ties which could ultimately prove vital in the promotion race.
Speaking to Hibs TV, Stubbs said: “Stuart (McCall) reported that there had been an improvemnet from the Livingston game and if that was the case then so be it. They slightly changed their formation and went with a 4-3-3 at the start and changed near the end when they were chaing the game.
“We will have to wait and see what happens on Sunday but the most important thing is that we will be concentrating on ourselves and what we do.
“We will give Rangers the respect they deserve but we need to make sure that we focus on what we are going to do.
“We are certainly doing the right things and I am pleased with where we are. I think the form and the desire of the team is very good. We are where we want to be, right in the thick of things.
“We are in a good position as we speak and we can make that even stronger on Sunday but we have to make sure that we still have that determination to stay there come the end of the season.
“The most important thing is that wer are still in second position at the end of May.
“From the bigger picture we are not going to win anything on sunday. We have a chance to make it harder for the teams below us to catch us but that’s been the case the last few weeks. We need to concentrate on ourselves and keep picking up three points.
“Sunday is a big game, there’s no denying that but every game is a big game and that is because of the position we are in so as far as I am concerned, yes, the status f playing Rangers is a big game but so was Cowdenbeath last week and so was the game before that, Livingston so they are all big games now. That’s the way we are loking at it and that’s the way we will keep looking at it until the end of the season.”
Despite some injury worries earlier in the week, Stubbs has almost a full squad to choose from in then game which will be shown live on Sky TV.
He continued: “Jason (Cummings) and Dominique (Malonga) have trained today so as long as there is no reaction, we think that they will be OK for Sunday.
“The only other injury to report is Tomas Cerny who has had the mumps so we have had to keep him away from the group for the last nine days but he will be back in on Monday.
“Apart from that everybody is fine.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
