Rangers v Hibs: Jack Ross explains what Hibees need to do at Ibrox to be competitive

Hibs were defeated 6-1 on their last visit to Ibrox. Pic: SNS

Jack Ross has admitted Hibs need a vast improvement in the performances they’ve produced against Rangers this season if they are to have a chance of winning at Ibrox tomorrow night.

The Easter Road head coach described his side’s display as they went down 3-0 at home to Steven Gerrard’s players just before Christmas as the most disappointing since he came into the job.

And, acknowledging the 6-1 hammering in Govan under his predecessor Paul Heckingbottom, Ross conceded Hibs have, at least, to make the latest encounter competitive.

However, he dismissed any suggestion that having dropped five points in their past three matches makes this a good time to be facing Rangers, now under increasing pressure if they are to halt arch-rivals Celtic clocking up a ninth successive title.

“I don’t think it makes too much difference,” he said. “I think if we had been going there and they had won every game post the winter break and had been winning comfortably then people would have been pointing to the form they were in.

“Their need for a win is probably just the same – I don’t think it’s bigger because they have been dropping points. When you are chasing a title every single game is massive.

“The task at hand is every bit as it would have been, from our point of view it’s just about making sure we play a lot better against them than we have done this season so far. We would like to make it more competitive than the last time.

“That was our most disappointing performance since I came into the job. The one thing we can control is our own performance, but we were a long way short. Rangers were very good and we want to be very good.

“The scoreline earlier in the season was disappointing so we have to get things right in terms of performance, do that and we give ourselves a better chance of putting it right in terms of the result.”

Hibs gave Rangers a two-goal start in just eight minutes on their visit to Easter Road – and at the weekend St Mirren found themselves enjoying the same early advantage within 18 minutes although goals from Scott Allan and Christian Doidge did salvage a point.

That was the third match in succession Hibs had lost the opening goal at home but Ross insisted: “I’m always reluctant to look too much at patterns. If you search for them you will find them. Of those games, the most concerning is what happened against Hamilton and St Mirren because we were not playing particularly well. Against Dundee United I thought we started okay, it was just a moment of brilliance from Lawrence (Shankland).

“More than conceding the goal it is about how you are playing at that period of the game and in the last two league games we have not started well in terms of performance and that is more concerning than conceding because you can concede out of the blue and still be playing well at the time.

“But, certainly, tomorrow it is imperative we start better than we have done.”