ALAN STUBBS, the Hibernian head coach, is not underestimating crisis-ravaged Rangers despite his side entering the fixture in the unusual position of favourites.
The Easter Road outfit have been beaten in normal time just once in their last 21 outings and a win at Ibrox tomorrow evening would lift them above Rangers into second place in the SPFL Championship.
Conversely, Kenny McDowall's side have lost four of their last seven games and hit a new low last Sunday with a meek William Hill Scottish Cup surrender against Raith Rovers. With Rangers seemingly unravelling on and off the pitch, Stubbs believes Hibs' usual underdog status at Ibrox will be conspicuous by its absence.
"I think people will look at what we have done in previous games and expect us to win on Friday," Stubbs said. "But my only expectation is for us to go there and put on a performance, and if we do that I know we can give Rangers problems. It is easy to look at what is going on [at Rangers] and think we will capitalise, but if Rangers had our record of one defeat in 21 then we'd still be going there with the same intent.
"I am also expecting a response from Rangers to last week. They have had a really bad time but they still have good players and are second in the league. I think it's too simplistic to say it's a good time to play them. They will come again. They maybe are suffering from a lack of confidence but Kenny [McDowall] will be doing his utmost to keep them in second position or that top spot from now until the end of the season."
Hibs are seeking a hat-trick of wins over Rangers this term, having registered a 3-1 win at Ibrox in September and a comprehensive 4-0 triumph in the capital in December. Stubbs has played down their recent dominance, insisting those victories will count for nothing. Nevertheless, he has promised to travel along the M8 with the same attacking approach.
"The hardest thing is to win a game in football," Stubbs smiled. "People look at us winning 3-1 and 4-0 and think it's a matter of us just turning up to win the game. "But we have done in the previous games will have no bearing on this one - it's totally different. "We'll see how it unfolds but we want to start the game well and put Rangers under pressure from the first moment to the last. We want to get the ball down and play. "We go out to win every game. I am not interested in scraping a draw, we want to get three points."
Meanwhile, former Celtic, Dundee United and Ross County midfielder Mark Fotheringham is currently training at the club following his release by English Championship side Fulham. The 31-year-old is a former teammate of Stubbs at Parkhead, however he is not considering a move for the free agent. "Fozzy [Fotheringham] was a young lad at Celtic when I was there and we are just offering him some training facilities at the moment," Stubbs added. "We are pretty good shape everywhere at this time, the squad is very healthy."
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