Monty targets nine in a row to finish season
Hibs head to Ibrox on Saturday looking to change their horrendous run of results against Rangers – but chasing their own nine-in-a-row target to salvage something from a tumultuous season. And Nick Montgomery hopes to have virtually a full squad to choose from, writes Nick John Greechan.
Currently on a run of six games without loss in the Scottish Premiership, with three games remaining before the split, Montgomery believes extending that undefeated sequence to nine could be enough to keep them in sixth place, the Yorkshireman saying: “Yeah, of course, that’s the aim. We’re undefeated in six – and we’re a little bit unlucky not to have six wins out of those games. But four wins and two draws is something we’re really happy about.
“There’s no doubt we’ve got a massive task ahead of us this weekend, against probably the best team in the country right now. It’s going to be a tough ask. We just need to continue the momentum built on the run of form we’ve had.”
In terms of key players returning to the line-up, Martin Boyle was back in full contact training this week after completing the return to play concussion protocols. After being symptom-free 48 hours after his clash with John Souttar on March 10, he was back in action at HTC.
Dutch striker Dylan Vente, who rolled his ankle in training on the morning before that defeat by Rangers, is making steady progress on his return to training and could also feature this weekend. Lewis Miller is also in contention to compete for a place at right-back as he works his way back from a recurring muscle strain. Josh Campbell, out since breaking his ankle and picking up knee damage in December’s 1-0 home loss to Hearts, is back in training, but is not yet available.
Including that Scottish Cup tie, Hibs have lost all three encounters with Rangers this season, failing to score a goal and conceding nine. Even a point on Saturday would be progress, then.