Update on hospitalised Hibs star as Monty levels accusation at Rangers ace

Gaffer says Light Blues midfielder milked challenge to get Hibs player sent off

Boyle was left with head and neck injuries after collision.

Hibs attacker Martin Boyle is stable in hospital after taking a serious head knock in tonight’s Scottish Cup clash with Rangers, according to Nick Montgomery. And the Hibees gaffer has accused Ibrox star John Lundstram of milking the challenge that saw Nathan Moriah-Welsh become the SECOND home player sent off in a fiery quarterfinal at Easter Road.

Speaking after a 2-0 loss that saw Hibs rally from a goal down before losing Jordan Obita and Moriah-Welsh to red cards in the space of three minutes, Montgomery said all thoughts were with Boyle, who had been taken straight to hospital after laying immobile on the pitch and being stretchered off late in the first half.

Monty said: “He's landed on his head, probably a bit of concussion, bit of a sore neck and that's something you have to worry about. But I’ve just had a report that Martin is stable and that’s the most important thing.

“Football is just a game and while Martin’s an important player for us, he’s a human being too. I think it’s a bit of concussion, and maybe little bit of neck pain. Fingers crossed he makes a speedy recovery because he was in a bit of pain.”

Following a game that saw tempers flare more than once, Rangers boss Philippe Clement laid into Moriah-Welsh for his foul on Lundstram – claiming that it was the sort of tackle that should be BANISHED from football, the Belgian declaring: “It is a reckless tackle with the studs in front and it doesn’t matter then if you break a leg or not. It is just reckless.

“I think it is important to get that kind of tackle out of the game because we have seen the last couple of weeks sometimes when we didn’t get the red card. I was not happy about that also that moment. I think it is not good for Scottish football, English football, Belgian football, German football, tackles like that.

“Players need to know if you tackle like that you get a red card. It is for nobody good because it is a danger to injure someone if you go in like that.”

Montgomery, who admitted that Moriah-Welsh shouldn’t have given the ref a decision to make by throwing himself in, took issue with Lundstram’s reaction – and claimed that ZERO contact had been made by the Hibs midfielder.

“Nathan is just 21 years old, he’s new to first team football,” said Monty. “And to be honest, it was right in front of me.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for John Lundstram. He’s a top, top player. But I thought the way he went down, Nathan didn’t catch him.

“I’ve seen that one back and he’s gone across him to try to block him playing a ball down the line, probably knock it out for a throw-in. But John has gone down.

“And the referee was very quick to give the card. To be honest, I was really surprised he didn’t go to the VAR monitor to have a look, considering it was three metres from where the incident happened. There’s just sometimes a bit of inconsistency, looking at decisions.”

Commenting on the penalty that led to Rangers’ opener, Montgomery added: “We can talk about whether it’s a penalty or whether it’s not a penalty. A couple of weeks ago, against Celtic, we had the exact same incident with Martin Boyle – a quick winger running inside, the fullback chasing, any contact … but Martin gets a yellow card, and we get a penalty given against us today.

“You see incidents like that - and it does just baffle you at times. Obviously, he’s slowed down to initiate the contact from Jordan. I can’t say whether it was or wasn’t a penalty – but it wasn’t a penalty for us a few weeks ago and it was a penalty tonight. That’s disappointing.

“The officials probably had a bit of a bad day today, to be honest. But we all have bad days.

“There’s no point in speaking to them. I think we’ve had a lot of calls go against us the last couple of weeks, and one or two apologies, but there’s no point in speaking to them today. It’s not going to change anything.

“I’ll need to look at the incidents again, but I’m focusing on the positives, the fact we played really good football, created good chancres – and could have score a couple of goals. It wasn’t to be.

“It was lively, a lot of drama. Unnecessary drama. I haven’t seen Jordan’s incident to be honest. I know he was on a yellow. He tried to hold Matondo off but apparently, he’s caught him on the back of the head with his arm.

“They are a top team but when you down to 10 its hard. When you go down to nine…”