TER Hibs stadium 2

Marvin Bartley believes the Hibs’ fans can be the 12th man against Rangers tonight in the Scottish Cup Final dress rehearsal at Easter Road.

The Hibs’ players won’t be thinking of the final however as the club need to win the game to keep up pressure on second placed Falkirk.

Hibs are currently third in the table, six points behind the Bairns with two games in hand albeit with an inferior goal difference.

The popular midfielder told Hibs TV: “Home advantage is obviously massive in this game. The fans were like the 12th man for us when we beat Rangers at Easter Road earlier in the season and I’m hoping they can be like that again in this game. it’s a game I’m very much looking forward to.

“It will be a physical game but it’s eleven v eleven so we will all be as physical  as we need to be to win the game.

“We won’t compare this game to the one on 21st May because that’s way down the road. If we win we get three point and we need to win then it’s one game at a time.

“It’s a massive game. We need to put the pressure on Falkirk if we want to knock them off the second place perch. I don’t care about the performance I just want three points.”

Hibs go into the game having beaten Dundee United in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final on Saturday which Bartley insists will help the team’s confidence.

“It was brilliant. To win the game on penalties is the best to win it. If you can guarantee to win it then penalties is the best way to do it.

He continued: “It was fantastic, the guys were very buoyant after the game.

“When you play as well as we did in parts against a Premier League team you can take confidence from that especially when you win the game. we will be confident going into the Rangers game and hopefully that will show in our performance.

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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.