Thursday 21 April 2016 09:29, UK
Rangers manager Mark Warburton denied that fatigue was to blame for his side's 3-2 league defeat to Hibernian on Wednesday.
Hibs dominated large periods of the match at Easter Road and deservedly secured a vital three points in their pursuit of promotion back to the Premiership.
Jason Cummings and a Wes Foderingham own goal gave the home side an early two-goal lead before Jason Holt pulled one back for the visitors from close range.
Niklas Gunnarsson extended the Hibees' advantage in the second half and, despite seeing Billie McKay score another long range effort, Alan Stubbs' side held on to secure victory in what was a dress rehearsal for next month's Scottish Cup final.
And although Warburton admitted that his side had underperformed away from home, he did not believe the defeat was due to fatigue following Sunday's gruelling Old Firm derby victory against Celtic.
"No, not at all, Sunday was totally irrelevant," said Warburton. "That is next year if we win the cup and have the Europa League. You saw the fitness levels, you saw Barrie McKay running back 40 yards in the 93rd minute.
"We were physically fine, mentally fine. It is disappointing to start the game well and then give away a soft, soft goal. That can't happen. The third goal allows them to sit deep and they had 10 men behind the ball so it is hard to break down.
"We got a great strike from Baz, who again produced an outstanding level of performance. We should have had more chances with all the possession we had. To come here and have 70 per cent of the ball tells you all you need to know."
Meanwhile, Victory moves Hibs to within two points of second-place Falkirk in the Championship table.
And, although manager Alan Stubbs was understandably pleased with his side's performance, he believes that the result will have no bearing on next month's cup final at Hampden Park.
"This result has no relevance to the cup final at all," he said. "That's not for another month. Over the course of the season you've seen two teams play each other four times and we've both won the games at home.
"But it certainly helps us in the race for second. We still have three games to go and it keeps it alive. We've kept up our part of the bargain with four to go before tonight.
"We want to pick up maximum points and we've just reached a quarter of our points target."
