Hibs boss Nick Montgomery 'won't change attacking approach' at Ibrox on Premiership return

Nick Montgomery insists his Hibs team won’t change their attacking approach when they take on Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday.

The Easter Road side have scored ten goals in the first five games under the new boss since he replaced Lee Johnson last month.

And they go to Glasgow this weekend confident they can take the game to Philippe Clement’s side.

Montgomery believes it is best if Hibernian simply focus on playing their own attacking game, given the difficulties of trying to guess how Rangers might approach their opening match under their new manager.

He admits the Ibrox side have got themselves “a manager with a good calibre that will give the fans a lift”, but he suspects it unlikely that the former Monaco and Club Brugge boss will have had enough time to make any notable changes over the past few days.

“Obviously before he came in we analysed their last couple of games,” said Montgomery on Friday. “He’s come in at the start of the week but boys have been away on international duty.

“I’m sure he’ll try and implement some of his identity and what he wants to do with the team, but that will be pretty difficult in a week so I’m not sure what will change.

“We’ve looked at some of his stuff from his time at Monaco, Genk and Brugge and he’s obviously been successful in the past.

“We’ve analysed a couple of his games at Monaco. He’s going into a club with a very good squad and he’s been with the players for a week, so we have to look at the possibilities of how they’ve played this season and how he’s played previously.

“I’m not sure exactly what will happen tomorrow but we’ve analysed what we feel is important, and really it’s about us preparing for the way we’re going to play and not worrying too much about the opposition.”

Montgomery has overseen a five-game unbeaten run with two wins and three draws and has generally deployed his team in a 4-4-2, with two wingers.

And he insisted he has no plans to tone down his aggressive approach against the side sitting second in the league.

“Not really,” he said when asked if he had any inclination towards a more cautious team selection, given the increased threat posed by Rangers. “I think anyone who has seen the way I’ve played since I got the job will see I like to play attacking football and create a lot of opportunities.

“You attack with ten and defend with ten. But we’re not stupid, we have to be aware they’ve got some of the best players in the league and they’ve got a very good squad.

“We’re not going to be naive and think we can throw bodies forward and not track back. We have to be competitive and show that we can go into big games and put in a good performance.”