Grant Hanley rues Hibs defeat to Rangers as Scotland star admits they couldn’t take advantage of Ibrox noise.

Despite all of the negative rhetoric surrounding the hosts prior to the match, the Leith side were defeated 2-0 at Ibrox.

Grant Hanley confesses that Hibs felt under pressure to perform at Ibrox. All eyes were on the home side as Rangers manager Russell Martin battled to keep his job despite doorstep protests. But Hanley admits that the Gers crisis talk has simply raised Hibs’ expectations.

However, the experienced defender was always aware that earning a success in Glasgow would be a tall order. He stated: “Obviously, we’re disappointed. We probably didn’t feel like there was much to the game.

“I didn’t think we gave up a lot of chances. Going in at halftime two down was quite frustrating. “There’s been a lot of talk about the game, and we certainly came here with some expectations.

“But we had no illusions about what we were getting into. “It’s a high-quality team, and while they’re going through a terrible moment, we recognised who we were playing against.

“You try to block out as much outside noise as possible while remaining professional and focused on the task at hand. “We knew we needed to be at the top of our game to get a result and we weren’t, hence why we’ve not got the result we want.”

Hibs believed they had inflicted further pain on Rangers as Martin Boyle beat Jack Butland midway through the first half.

However, their celebrations were cut short as VAR detected the Australian international’s handball in the buildup.

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Hibs skipper Martin Boyle had a goal chalked out for VAR. (Image: SNS Group.) Hanley added: “We had two big chances in the first half, including the disallowed goal.

“It’s a large swing; I’m not sure what it’s like because I haven’t seen it back yet. But we thought it was cruel at the time. Hanley was a standout player for Scotland in Denmark this month, where the national team drew 0-0 to begin their World Cup qualifying campaign.

And he hopes that his Hibs performances will keep him in Steve Clarke’s plans for next month’s games against Greece and Belarus.

The 33-year-old, who travels to Falkirk tomorrow night for a Premiership encounter rescheduled due to Europe, said:

“One of the reasons I came here was to attempt to keep my international career continuing. “There wasn’t much time left at that level, so I needed to take advantage of every opportunity. “It’s an honour to be involved and I’m grateful to be given that opportunity.”

The 33-year-old, who heads to Falkirk tomorrow night for a Premiership fixture rearranged because of Europe, said:

“Part of the decision to come here was trying to keep my international career going.

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