Jack Ross brands Florian Kamberi Rangers comments 'unusual' as he casts doubt on player's Hibs future

Jack Ross reckons Florian Kamberi could have chosen his words more carefully

Hibs head coach Jack Ross believes it will be hard for striker Florian Kamberi to get the Easter Road fans back on side if he returns to the Capital club after his loan stint at Rangers.

The 24-year-old joined the Ibrox side on loan on transfer deadline day, with Greg Docherty coming in the opposite direction, and declared in an interview with RangersTV that it was "a dream" to join the Light Blues, adding: "My second game for Hibs was at Ibrox and after the game, I told my agent immediately my dream would be to play in this stadium in front of these fans as they are the best fans in the world – the support is massive.”

But Ross has branded the player's comments "unusual", with Kamberi under contract at Hibs until the summer of 2021.

"They are unusual for a player who still has time to go at his parent club, and he's only on loan," the Hibs head coach said ahead of his side's league match with Rangers on Wednesday night.

"But each and every player behaves in a different way, and each and every player chooses their own words."

Insisting he would be putting Kamberi and his comments to one side, Ross added: "He has chosen his words and it's him that's delivered them. It's not like he has been misquoted.

"At the moment I can put that to the side because my focus has been on the players that are here and the ones that I get to work with and the ones I can try and get the best from.

"It's made it much more challenging [for him to return to Hibs]. I think he has said that."

Kamberi appeared to backtrack slightly following Rangers' goalless draw with Aberdeen, in which he made his debut as an 83rd-minute replacement for Matt Polster, claiming that he was an ambitious player who was aiming for the top.

Ross continued: "I read other quotes attributed to him and I think that's fairly obvious [that it's difficult for him to return]. I think he could have chosen his words more carefully in the first instance then I think he wouldn't have put himself in a more difficult position."