MARTYN WAGHORN, the striker who signed a three-year deal with Rangers on Monday, has described Hibs as “pretty basic” and “nothing great” ahead of their Petrofac Training Cup match at Easter Road on Saturday.
And Waghorn has also suggested the capital outfit are overly reliant on Scott Allan – the talented young central midfielder who the Ibrox club have once again been strongly tipped to make a transfer bid for.
The 23-year-old Englishman played against Hibs for former club Wigan Athletic in a training game during a warm-weather training stint at La Manga earlier this month and scored two goals in a 2-1 victory.
The ex-Sunderland and Leicester City centre-forward revealed that Wigan had concentrated on closing down Allan in the pre-season match in Spain and had recorded a straightforward victory as a result.
The former England Under-21 internationalist’s blunt comments about both the Championship player of the year and Hibs are interesting given the renewed speculation about a potential move to Rangers.
Alan Stubbs’ side finished runners-up in the second tier last season and are expected to be the main challengers for promotion to the top flight in the coming months along with Mark Warburton’s team.
Warburton has watched the former Dundee United player in action twice, in pre-season friendlies against both Berwick Rangers and Dunfermline, since being appointed Rangers manager last month.
Waghorn’s remarks are also sure to fire up the Hibs players, who lost out in the two-legged Premiership play-off semi-final to Rangers in May, ahead of their meeting in Edinburgh this weekend.
Asked what his impressions of Hibs had been, he said: “They were alright, pretty basic to be honest. Once we cut out the main man and stopped them from playing that was it really. Obviously it was nice to get on the scoresheet twice.
“We’ll go to the gaffer and we’ll go through our tactics. They were alright, nothing great. But we’ll take nothing for granted and we’ll have our game plan and try to counteract them our way. The best way to cut him out is by beating him [Allan].
“Everything pretty much went through Allan. We counteracted that and pretty much got him out of the game. But it was a different type of game over there, it was a friendly, a practice match and I’m sure it will be a different challenge on Saturday.”
Waghorn added: “It’s going to be a bit strange playing them twice in two weeks, but I’m sure it will be different circumstances. It will be a massive game on Saturday and we’re well aware of the challenge.
“It’s the first game of the season, everyone’s raring to go, everyone’s excited and it’ll be a big game. Hopefully if I get the nod I can do the same.
“We want to lay down a marker no matter who we are playing. We are Rangers and everyone wants to come and beat us. So we’re just going to go there, play with freedom and enjoy it.
“It’s going to set a real standard for the whole season and how we go about our job. No matter who it is, Hibs or whoever, we’re going to go there to win and win as many as we can.”
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