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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Robbie Copeland

Kevin Nisbet delivers on Rangers vow as Hibs star confesses 'I HAD to score after what I said'

Firing Kevin Nisbet admits he simply HAD to get back among the goals after piling pressure on himself ahead of his comeback against Rangers.

The Hibs striker lost 10 months of his career to injury but announced his return in style at Ibrox, scoring his side's second goal in a 3-2 defeat in Glasgow. He followed that up with seven goals in his next eight games including a hat-trick against Motherwell and his sizzling form led to an offer from Millwall which was accepted for the Easter Road side, only for Nisbet to knock back the approach at the final hour.

A niggling issue kept him out against St Mirren but he's expected to be back to face Kilmarnock on February 18 with Hibs not in action this weekend after going out of the Scottish Cup. And Nisbet is determined to keep the goals flowing. He admits he simply had to return with a bang after vowing to come back a "different player" ahead of their December clash with Rangers.

He told the Scottish Sun: “I’ve been delighted with how it’s gone since I came back. I said before the Rangers game I’d come back a different player and I’ve shown that. Now I need to continue it. I actually like to put pressure on myself and the more I do, the better I perform. After what I said, I had to score and thankfully I did. It was going really well but picking up the knock at Ross County last week wasn’t great.”

Nisbet is also targeting a return to the Scotland squad with the March internationals now in sight. Steve Clarke's team face Cyprus on March 25 and Spain on March 28 and Nisbet is determined to be in the group after getting a taste of the action at Euro 2020.

"Getting back in the squad is one thing I’m targeting. To do that I need to keep scoring for Hibs and that’s the next aim. I was in a few squads before I suffered the knee injury and that was bad timing for me. Now I have to look to get back in again, then push to try to get a start.

“The games in March are massive. It’s the start of a new campaign. Any player wants to represent his country but to be involved in a major championship is even more special.

“The Euros was unbelievable and it’s something we’d love to repeat. We have a few injuries right now but since Steve Clarke came in, he’s transformed everything. The fans seem to be right on board with everything we want to do and the players can feel the support is with us. I think they realise now we have a chance to get to more major tournaments and that’s something we’ll look to do.”

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