Rangers are feeling the heat in title race, insists Stubbs

ALAN STUBBS last night sought to crank up the pressure on Championship leaders Rangers by claiming that Mark Warburton’s men must be feeling rattled by his hard-chasing Hibs side. The Easter Road gaffer, who has been involved in a running titfor-tat with his opposite number at Ibrox, has taken his team from no-hopers — on the brink of falling 11 points adrift in the title race — to within three points of the summit. Stubbs says the shrinking gap must be playing on the minds of Warburton and his players, insisting: ‘I’ll be careful how I word this, but I know where we are — and it’s right where we want to be. ‘You can deny things as much as you want. But if I was in first place

and I saw us behind — it will definitely be on their minds. ‘You can say that you’re focusing on whatever you want, which is what you always say in that position. ‘But if I was at the top and Rangers were this close to us, I would definitely be aware of them.’ Stubbs, who responded to being linked with the vacant Reading job by insisting he had received no contact from the English Championship club, was yesterday named Ladbrokes Championship Manager of the Month — picking up his award alongside Player of the Month John McGinn. Hibs have won 14 and drawn one of their last 15 games, including beating Rangers at Easter Road when an away win would have put the home side — already eight points adrift — effectively out of the title race. ‘Psychologically, we have done really well,’ said Stubbs. ‘We could have been 11 points behind. ‘We have managed to get it back to level, then Rangers have won their game in hand. It is all brewing and simmering. ‘It’s great because we have three teams who have had great starts to the season. Rangers had an unbelievable start but then we found ourselves only three points behind them, so that tells you how well we have done. ‘Falkirk are only six points behind us and that shows how well they have done. ‘We play Falkirk at home on Saturday and I have no doubt that they will be right in the mix come the end of the season.’