Shock Old Firm win WON'T force Hibs rethink for Rangers clash, as Gray preps for Easter Road Sunday showdown

Hibs boss David Gray won’t be tearing up his tactical plan for Sunday’s visit of a revitalised Rangers on the back of yesterday’s shock Old Firm win for the Light Blues. And he insists that the Easter Road side are “very capable” of taking down Philippe Clement’s men in their high noon clash.

Rangers stunned the reigning champions and league leaders with a 3-0 win at Ibrox in the first SPFL action of 2025, while Hibs were struggling to a 1-1 draw away to 10-man St Johnstone. Gray is paying only minimal attention to the sudden change of fortunes enjoyed by Clement’s side, however – and is taking heart from his own team’s performance in a narrow 1-0 loss at Ibrox back in September.

Asked what the Old Firm result did to his preparation for Sunday’s game, Gray said: “From our point of view, not a lot. I think it's always a tough game. They're real tough games coming to Easter Road.

“We know, regardless of their result against Celtic, whether they'd won, drawn, or what our result had been against St Johnstone, we know we're going to have to be at our very best to get a positive result. But it’s one that we're very capable of getting.

“And that'll be the mindset going into it. If we play to our best, we've demonstrated we're a match for anyone. And that's what the full message has to be going into the game.”

Sunday’s game will be a fourth in 11 days for both teams, with this season’s festive schedule putting an extra strain on squads, Gray noting: “Right now the focus is on recovery. We need to squeeze a lot of games into such a short period of time. So we need to recover quickly and put a team together that we feel gives us the best chance to try and win that game.

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“We've obviously played against them already at Ibrox. We were really good on that day. We hope to be just as good again – and to get a result.”

Hibs are sweating over the fitness of club captain Joe Newell, with the central midfielder missing the St Johnstone game with a groin injury that forced him off at half-time in last weekend’s home win over Kilmarnock. Livewire attacker Elie Youan is expected to be fit after missing the last two games with a foot injury sustained in the Boxing Day win over Hearts at Tynecastle.

Gray’s men have lost just one of their last eight games. But yesterday’s draw put an end to a four-game winning streak.