Why Hibs ace John McGinn passed up penalty chance at Ibrox

John McGinn, Martin Boyle and Jamie Maclaren go wild after the successful penalty

The Easter Road midfielder had already fired Neil Lennon’s side ahead only to see his first-half goal cancelled out by Sean Goss’ free-kick before Scott Allan won the Capital outfit a spot-kick.

But as boss Lennon yelled at McGinn to take it, Australian striker Maclaren snatched the ball and made it clear no-one was taking it off him. And he beat goalkeeper Wes Foderingham to claim his first goal for Hibs – and the three points.

McGinn, however, initially believed Foderingham had stopped Maclaren’s effort – admitting it had probably saved both of them from the wrath of Lennon.

He said: “The gaffer shouted at me to take it but Jamie was confident and I didn’t want to cause a scene. I thought the goalkeeper had saved it. Thankfully for my sake and Jamie’s it hit the back of the net.”

McGinn insisted Hibs’ second win of the season at Ibrox was all the more special because it was achieved with a makeshift side, David Gray, Steven Whittaker, Darren McGregor, Paul Hanlon and Vykintas Slivka all ruled out through injury while Brandon Barker hobbled off after just five minutes, forcing McGinn to play left-wing back as Lennon reshuffled his side.

He said: “It was a massive win for us. We had to dig deep at the end of a really tough run of games with a depleted squad. On a personal level, I was delighted to get my goal. The space opened up with Jamie and Florian Kamberi making good runs and I knew it was in when I hit it.

“But I was even more proud and happy for the team. We were short. We had young Ryan Porteous – who is going to go right to the top – coming in and Lewis Stevenson playing at centre half, a position he’s never played before.

“I was pushed out to left wing-back. I don’t think I’ve played there since I was 17 and hopefully I’m not going to continue there.

“The boys had to dig deep. You found yourself looking at the clock as Rangers were piling the pressure on. It’s a hard place to go with a red-hot atmosphere but it all made the win that bit more special.”