HEADBANGER

Mind games all the rage as play-off pressure boils over McKinnon just trying to deflect attention, insists Stubbs

HIBS boss Alan Stubbs has accused Raith Rovers counterpart Ray McKinnon of aiming verbal barbs at him to deflect attention from his own unsettled future. And he questioned whether Dundee United’s No 1 target was as calm as he claimed to be during this week’s first leg of the Premiership play-off quarterfinal by insisting McKinnon had banged his head on the dugout during the excitement. McKinnon said it was a sign of the pressure getting to the Englishman when he criticised the referee and the state of the Stark’s Park pitch following Wednesday night’s 1-0 win for Rovers. But Stubbs, speaking ahead of today’s crucial return at Easter Road, believes his rival’s outburst was specifically designed to quell persistent talk of McKinnon replacing the sacked Mixu Paatelainen at Tannadice. ‘Why do you think he said all that?’ asked Stubbs (left), before adding: ‘So that you don’t talk about the Dundee United stuff.’ Asked if he thought the

United link would affect his opposite number, Stubbs added: ‘I don’t know. We’re all different. Ray obviously knows me very well.’ The former Celtic and Everton defender flatly denied McKinnon’s assertion he had been unusually animated on the touchline. And although McKinnon claimed he had been enjoying a cup of tea in the dugout by comparison, Stubbs maintained his rival was not as cool as he made out. ‘He should have put a manager cam on me and then you’d be able to go through it all,’ said Stubbs. ‘You certainly wouldn’t see me acting odd. He says he had a cup of tea, did he? Did he bang his head on the dugout? Oh, he didn’t mention that, did he? He also didn’t mention the fourth official speaking to him, telling him to calm down. ‘If there would have been a manager cam on me, then you would have seen me sitting down, you would have seen me standing up, talking to the players on the bench… ‘I must be under some pressure. Does it look like I feel it? Listen, I’m relaxed. As I have been throughout the tie. ‘People don’t like talking about pressure. Well, some people do. It doesn’t bother me whatsoever. ‘I come into work every day and put pressure on myself to be even better than the previous day, the previous week. ‘As a player, I put pressure on myself to be as good as I could be. Maybe that’s why I did quite well.’ Defending his complaints about a penalty claim being waved aside by referee Kevin Clancy, Stubbs said: ‘I actually turned away and saw Ray’s reaction — and he was surprised it was not given.’ Looking forward to a better playing surface tomorrow, Stubbs added: ‘It will help us and it will help them, too. They do like to counter attack. ‘If Ray does not have his mischievous head on, he will admit the (Stark’s Park) pitch is in poor condition. But I said after the game it was in poor condition for both teams.’