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Friday 26th December 2014

Featured match

Hibernian take on Rangers at Easter Road on Saturday, live on Sky Sports with a 12.15pm kick-off.

Hibernian take on Rangers at Easter Road on Saturday, live on Sky Sports with a 12.15pm kick-off.

It’s a big game for both clubs in the Championship and former Hibs defender Steven Tweed reckons it will be an occasion to relish.

He said: “Games between Hibs and Rangers are always massive and it looks like this one will be close to a sell-out. It is two of the biggest clubs in Scotland meeting and there have been some great games during the years.

“I was there as a Hibs youth player watching when Graeme Souness made his debut and was sent off for the incident with George McCluskey.

“I played in the game when Paul Gascoigne showed the referee the yellow card he had dropped and was booked for his troubles. I was also playing when Ally McCoist scored his overhead kick to win the League Cup in his first game since breaking his leg for Scotland.

“We lost those games but I did play in a couple of wins as well. I am sure this game will have plenty of talking points as well but the strange thing is that it is Hibs v Rangers in the second tier of Scottish football. You would not have thought that was possible when I was playing.”

Tweed has been impressed with the moves his former side have made on and off the park since being relegated via the play-offs at the end of last season.

The 42-year-old added: “Hibs have made a lot of very good appointments off the pitch with George Craig, Leeann Dempster and Eddie May coming on board. It looks like they are concentrating on youth in a very positive way now.

“The youth side were very successful a few years ago when they won a League and Cup double but very few of the players progressed to the first team.

“Callum Booth has made it at Hibs and David Wotherspoon is playing at St Johnstone but the likes of Paddy Deane, who was a big figure in that team, never progressed in the way that would have been hoped.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, Tweed added: “Hibs have been a more settled team on the park as well recently and Alan Stubbs is well into understanding the job he has to do.

“They do have a few loan players who have futures that still have to be sorted but things are looking positive on the playing front.

“Hibs lost to Rangers early in the season in the Petrofac Training Cup however they went to Ibrox and won in the league so they can win this one.

“The mind-set of the Rangers players will be interesting as they have gone through an unsettling couple of weeks. Ally McCoist was going to be there for 12 months and then he was gone and Kenny McDowall was in charge. It may have an effect on the players and Saturday will show us if it does.”

Craig Stewart

 

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