PORTEOUS: I’m only being competitive... like Gerrard

RYAN PORTEOUS insists he won’t be put off by criticism from Steven Gerrard because he is only following the competitive example set by the Rangers boss in his own playing days. Gerrard took a public swipe at the Hibernian defender following the teams’ 2-2 draw at Easter Road in September. The Liverpool legend was infuriated by a couple of Porteous’s challenges and said it was ‘cheap’ for the Scotland Under-21 star to complain about Rangers players refusing to shake hands at full-time. Speaking ahead of today’s trip to Ibrox, the centre-half believes Gerrard’s irritation was a sign he is doing something right. ‘I think so,’ said the 21-year-old. ‘He was probably a player that wound up a few people. ‘Not that I’m going out of my way to do that. ‘But I don’t change my game for anybody. You’ve seen me enough to know I don’t

AT 21, Ryan Porteous finds himself i n the unusual position of being able to offer sage words of advice to a team-mate. A first league start at Ibrox, is it? Oh, son. Just sit down and let me tell you a story about that…

Porteous has no doubts about stand-in goalkeeper Dillon Barnes’ ability to cope in Govan this afternoon.

And the Scotland Under-21 defender is equally bullish about his team’s chances of beating the league leaders on their own turf.

Barnes, three years older than his ‘veteran’ team-mate, is in line to start after Ofir Marciano limped out of Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over St Mirren with a hamstring strain. After a handful of Betfred Cup appearances, it represents a step up in challenge for the on-loan Queens Park Rangers goalie (below).

Drawing on his own experience, Porteous said: ‘I made my first league start at Ibrox as well, so I can relate to it.

‘It will be a tough task for him but I don’t see why he can’t come in and thrive.

‘What do I remember about my first game there? The first 15 minutes were a bit of a blur. I was all over the place, then I settled into the game.

‘I always quite like the big games and I think Dillon will be the same. He’ll be more than fine. He’s a really good goalie playing at a really good level.

‘For me, I remember looking and going: “Oh God”. I was a bit taken aback by it, especially because it’s probably the best atmosphere in Scotland. Now, with no crowd, it might settle him a little bit.

‘Listen, I see him in training every day and he’s a really good goalie. He’s got real quality with the ball at his feet as well.

‘He’s confident in his ability. He had a few Betfred games and I think he would have been disappointed not to play the last Betfred games.

‘Ofir’s played week in, week out, but it’s Dillon’s chance now. Hopefully he can give the manager a headache.’

Hibs held Rangers to a 2-2 draw at Easter Road in September, becoming the f i rst Scottish side to breach a defence who had set a new record for clean sheets to start the season.

Steven Gerrard’s men haven’t dropped a single Premiership point since that Sunday in Edinburgh, although they were knocked out of the Betfred Cup by St Mirren in Paisley earlier this month.

Porteous said Hibs have to believe they can expose Rangers again, saying: ‘As a team, we are going there with confidence and belief that we can get something.

‘We know what we did to them at the start of the season. We were really disappointed not to take three points and we will be going there with the same attitude.

‘Can we win? Why not? Rangers have been really good this season — but we saw what St Mirren did to them and it showed that no team is unbeatable.

‘But, listen, Rangers have real quality in forward areas and they’ve made it a bit more solid at the back this season, so we know they’re a great team and in really good form just now.

‘But so are we. We’ve just had our 25th game of the season and we’ve only lost four of them. I think that shows that we’re in a really good place as well.

‘We’ll be going there fully confident but we’ll be wary of the dangers they pose.’

Hibs follow today’s trip to Glasgow with home games against Ross County and Livingston, before heading to Celtic Park for a January 11 fixture pushed back to allow the hosts a winter training break in Dubai.

For Porteous, pipping the Dons to third has to be a realistic target, the centre-half explaining: ‘The Hibs teams in the past have maybe settled for fourth, fifth place and been a run-of-the-mill Hibs team.

‘Hibs in the last 15-20 years have been nowhere near where they should have been. Now we are getting there.

‘We’ve put ourselves in a good position to get a European place. That’s our goal, but we need to get it over the line.’