Natasha Woods watches as the Rangers captain answers some pertininent questions.

AT the moment Barry Ferguson flicked a header over the Hibernian goalkeeper to put Rangers 3-0 up, the question of worth seemed a pertinent one. Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson believe they are being under-valued at Easter Road, but given the perfect stage to state their case, they were outshone by a man who is paid the sort of sums they can only dream about.

The Rangers captain - himself sometimes the subject of excessive hype - short-changed no-one yesterday. He commanded the midfield, while Thomson and Brown were part of a Hibernian team whose bandwagon derailed spectacularly during a first half at Ibrox in which the visitors were hoisted by their own petard.

It was Rangers who started fast, who pressed every inch of the Ibrox turf, and who harried their opponents into conceding possession. Much the same, indeed, as Hibernian have done to earn an impressive record in recent meetings between the two sides.

"The Rangers midfielders were in our faces and trying to make it difficult for us," admitted Thomson. "Maybe in the last few weeks that is where we have dominated. We try and press teams and I think Rangers used that tactic today.

"I thought they had that extra 2% of workrate and they looked like they were really up for the game. They worked well as a team. It wasn't just Barry Ferguson who caused us problems - right through the team they caused us bother."

While Hibernian may have rescued some pride with a second half performance of greater resolve, the club captain cut an increasingly frustrated figure as his team blew their chance to overhaul Rangers in the SPL table.

Brown, his fellow "wage slave", had a strangely quiet afternoon; the only thing he managed to muscle into submission was the water bottle he was handed as he was substituted late on - that was thrown on to the turf with a fury which prompted sarcastic laughter from the home fans.

A kick on an already sore foot had prompted Brown's withdrawal and his manager read frustration rather than petulance into the midfielder's gesture as he was led straight up the tunnel with a quarter of an hour to go.

Last weekend, Brown's reaction to victory over Dundee United had been to hand in a written transfer request. Despite having been delighted to agree the terms on offer when he signed a contract extension back in March, a weekly wage of around £1,400 a week is now deemed unacceptable. Thomson, supposedly armed with a matching letter from Willie McKay - the agent who now represents the pair - chose not to follow suit.

The bottom line is both players are under intense scrutiny from potential suitors and the Hibernian fans, who may have reason to be concerned whether such matters will unsettle either player or the collective moral.

Thomson shrugged off such suggestions, claiming the contract situation didn't add to the pressure on him to perform and nor did a game against Rangers, one of the clubs already said to be interested in recruiting he and his midfield partner.

"Look, I feel pressure all the time simply because there are so many good players at Easter Road at the moment that nobody's position is guaranteed," he explained.

"That was shown today with the substitutions the manager made at half-time. Maybe people would have raised an eyebrow at the boys coming off, but that is the way it goes at Hibs - if you are not performing and giving 110% every week you'll find yourself on the sidelines.

"I approach every game the same whether it is against Dunfermline, Celtic, Rangers, Hearts or whoever. I just hope people would think of us being professional regardless of what is going on in the press. Me and Scott will continue to give 110% every week."

Given everything football fans have seen of the pair in recent seasons, it would go against their nature to expect anything less. If Brown was subdued yesterday, it had nothing to do with his desire for a larger pay packet and everything to do with coming up against a chokingly effective and athletic Rangers midfield which snapped into every tackle and covered every blade of grass.

It said everything about the effort put in by Ferguson, Jeremy Clement, Charlie Adam and Libor Sionko that Hibernian's midfield had a distinctly lightweight look until John Collins introduced the more robust Michael Stewart into proceedings.

Hibs were more competitive from then on, but any hopes of a comeback were fatally undermined when Ivan Sproule got himself sent off for a second piece of needless and idiotic behaviour on an afternoon far removed from the hat-trick heroics he enjoyed some 16 months ago.

The Irishman's first indiscretion had come in the first half, when he and the Rangers captain had squared up amid a volley of verbal abuse and a couple of raised hands.

Both were booked. Ferguson seemed particularly aggrieved to be cautioned. But soon he had his goal. And Hibs, and Ferguson's young midfield rivals, were put firmly in their place.