Hibs No. 1 enjoying trial by fire as Rangers provide another huge challenge in hectic festive schedule

Hibs keeper Jordan Smith says he’s ready for another “baptism of fire” as he faces Rangers for the first time in Sunday’s live televised contest at Easter Road. And the experienced back-up, thrust into the starting spot after Josef Bursik’s troubled stint as No. 1, believes Philippe Clement’s men will arrive boasting “massive confidence” after their Old Firm thrashing of rivals Celtic at Ibrox.

Since breaking into the first team, 30-year-old Smith has faced Celtic at Celtic Park AND performed with distinction in a Boxing Day derby win over Hearts at Tynecastle. The former Nottingham Forest keeper is keen to keep the big occasions coming.

“I've had a bit of a baptism of fire really, with some big games,” said Smith, who also played well in a significant 3-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie at the outset of this hectic festive schedule. “And they've come thick and fast. But I've enjoyed it. I've loved it. And, you know, obviously the results going the right way have helped massively in that.

“Celtic and Rangers, the Old Firm, are what people talk about up in Scotland and probably rightly so. But Easter Road, you know, the fans who followed us to Perth for St Johnstone, there was a sellout against Kilmarnock - they've turned out in the numbers for us, probably due to an upturn in performances and results.

“So, you know, we just want to send them home happy. So that's going to be the aim.”

Hibs have lost just one of their last eight games and, even though that single 3-0 defeat at Celtic Park looks bad on paper, Smith had a relatively quiet afternoon as the visitors created numerous chances, the keeper recalling: “Yeah, it’s not very often that you have very little to do.

“But we've got that belief now that we can go and do it. You know, as you said before, that's five games undefeated now. And Celtic being the only blip in the record for quite a while.

“And, you know, that day at Celtic Park was another game that we came out a little bit disappointed. You know, people said we played really well, created a lot of chances. And we're disappointed that it was 3-0 because we don't feel that it should have been.

“But the scoreline doesn't lie. It really doesn't. There's no hiding place from it.

“You want to test yourself against the best. And Rangers are, you know, certainly going to be one of the best. They're going to have massive confidence with the result that they've just got, rightly so. But we've got a lot of belief within the group now.”

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Yesterday’s draw with 10-man St Johnstone felt like two points dropped for a team who had a chance, with a victory, to climb as high as fifth in the table. Considering they were knocked back to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership by that loss to Celtic as recently as early December, they’ve already made remarkably quick progress.

Insisting that a place in the top six has to be minimum aim, Smith said: “I think, you know, we've got the ability. I feel like I've said belief an awful lot! But we have belief.

“I think keeping the unbeaten run going helps. Obviously, as a footballer, the greatest saying in the world is, if you can't win, make sure you don't lose. And that's what we've done.

“It's easy to come up with excuses for not winning, that we probably lacked a bit of intensity, as you say, because the games are coming so thick and fast. But we went into the game full of belief that we could get a more positive result.

“We can't be too disappointed because this team and this club, probably six weeks ago, would have been delighted to go and get a point away from home. So it shows how far we've come, that we've come through that test of character. And as I say, got a point, move on, keeps the unbeaten run.

“We knew that we could really put some pressure on and probably get into the top six, depending on other results. And obviously, they've gone the way that we probably would have wanted them to go. And yeah, of course, it's a massive opportunity missed.

“But ultimately, there's not a lot of time to dwell on it. And we've got to roll our sleeves up and get ready for a massive game on Sunday. And the ambition will be exactly the same.”