Rangers boss says there are no excuses for Hibernian defeat
Rangers manager Walter Smith says that his side can have no excuses for their first Scottish Premier League loss of the season after they were beaten 3-0 at home by Hibernian on Wednesday, 10 November.
The defending champions had gone into the game having not lost a match domestically all season. Hibs, on the other hand, had won just two games in the league.
However, the Edinburgh-based club were able to upset the form book after Liam Miller put the visitors ahead just six minutes into the game.
While Hibs keeper Mark Brown stopped Rangers from getting back into the game at the other end of the pitch, John Rankin extended the advantage and Francis Dickoh lashed home a third late on to lift the Hibees into eighth place in the SPL.
'Hibs deserved result'
A dejected Smith told the BBC that: "From our own point of view, there's no excuses. Hibs played very well and at the end of the day have deserved their result. They defended very well, their team worked exceptionally hard and they deserved what they got.
“It was a disappointing performance from us overall but you've got to give credit to Hibs. I thought they played exceptionally well, especially in the first half-hour of the game. They set their stall out very well, they played very well in possession, they
used the extra man in midfield to a great degree.
"The first half of the game was a good game of football. Hibs had two goals from long range, they had another opportunity that (Rangers keeper) Allan McGregor had a save from. We had possibly four really good chances to score without having imposed ourselves
on the game, some good saves from Mark Brown.”
A bad night for Smith was made worse after defender Sasa Papac and midfielder Maurice Edu both received injuries that are likely to keep them out of the home game against Aberdeen on Saturday.
Though Smith was disappointed by the result, his side remain at the top of the SPL as fierce rivals Cetlic, who lie in second place just a single point behind Rangers, were beaten 2-0 by Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle on the same night.
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