Fireworks guaranteed as standard setters of the second tier collide

AFTER our 2-1 home defeat to Rangers, I made some headlines by saying they would have the Championship title wrapped up by February. Of course, I still think Rangers will win the league. They are that strong, that relentless.

But maybe I will have to admit I was too quick to say what I did back in September. I may have to reassess if Hibernian win this one and deal the leaders their first league setback because they have not been far off matching Rangers for consistency of results, with nine wins and a draw in 10 games in league and Cup.

I’m going to be at Easter Road to see if they can keep going, I’m looking forward to it and I’m expecting a terrific game.

Mark Warburton’s team has been a breath of fresh air. The crowds are back watching Rangers and there’s an excitement about the place.

Lately, however, Rangers have won by the odd goal in four of their last six victories, including against us.

Teams are trying to compact the middle of the park and frustrate Rangers. You cannot afford to get over-run in wide areas, where Lee Wallace and James Tavernier have been different class.

Those full-backs push right on from the two central defenders and Andy Halliday sitting in front. In attack, Martyn Waghorn has been excellent and it’s been great to see Barrie McKay enjoying a new lease of life.

St Johnstone did well to keep it tight and hit them on the break. I’m fascinated to see what Hibs do. And I suspect they will be confident in what they’ve got and what they can do rather than try to pack the midfield area.

I can’t see them sitting back. I expect Hibs to take the game to Rangers. Teams have found it’s difficult if you take a gamble and play two strikers against this team. Whether it’s two strikers or three for Hibs, I think they will go out to attack the visitors to Easter Road.

We managed to beat Hibs 2-1 on the first day of the season when the Scott Allan factor was a big thing. There was a lot of focus on him playing that day. There was tension around that situation.

From a manager’s point of view, I thought Alan Stubbs conducted himself really well dealing with that scenario. It’s not easy managing with a high-profile player that another club is interested in.

I would say they are stronger now for not relying on so much going through Allan. He was the talisman, he made them tick. The concentration has to be on the team rather than an individual.

You lose one player and bring in three, so the squad is significantly stronger and it’s shown by the consistent run of eight league games without defeat since the 1-0 loss at Ibrox.

However, I thought the visitors did well that day and have grown since the August game. One of those midfield additions, Liam Henderson, was terrific and Hibs had chances to win that match.

Hibs are stronger, particularly in that midfield area since then, where the options available to Stubbs allow him to make changes like Fraser Fyvie, plus Dylan McGeouch to go with John McGinn, who is only just catching up after his pre-season got going late. As with Jason Cummings up top, McGinn has been excellent in recent weeks.

There’s such a good team structure and tempo about them. They hadn’t been conceding goals at Easter Road until our 4-2 defeat there a fortnight ago but I was impressed with how sharp they were and how they moved the ball around.

I chatted with Alan after the game and there’s no doubt he’s much happier with the squad than when we first met in August. They are playing at a good level. Helped by Darren McGregor’s signing, they are solid through the whole team.

A lot of people will be tuning in to see Rangers handle this big test or see if Hibs can close the gap to five points. I’d be gobsmacked if this was scoreless. This will be close. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were four goals or more.

And think of the quality of these teams at this level. I know Hearts ran away with the title but Rangers couldn’t get up and Alan Stubbs was in his first season.

Both sides have been impressive since and I think games between these two this season could be the best standard of Championship match seen — the strongest the second tier has ever been.