Steven Gerrard was warned his title chasing Rangers squad they can’t afford to get complacent against hurting Hibs this week.
The Ibrox gaffer is just nine wins away from being crowned Premiership champions after Saturday’s 5-0 romp against Ross County.
But Gerrard is looking to take another huge step towards glory by ticking another victory off at Easter Road on Wednesday but he is wary of a Betfred Cup backlash from Jack Ross’ side.
Hibs have hit a slump with just one win in six and were dumped out of the cup by St Johnstone at Hampden at the weekend.
But Gerrard – who was thrilled to have Ryan Jack back from injury at the weekend – said: “Hibs are a good team and they are never going to make it easy for you by rolling over and allowing you to just beat them.
“They have always been one of the strongest teams in this league, even when I’ve been looking in from afar.
“They’ve recruited well, got a good manager but I don’t think the playing surface looks too good on the eye from what I’ve seen in recent games that I’ve watched.
“It will be a challenge, it will be a test.
“But we’re in a good place, we’re looking forward to it.”
Rangers were held to a 2-2 draw on their last trip to Leith – one of only three draws they’ve had in an unbeaten season so far.
But Gerrard said: “We’ve been there and won before. I thought we should have won the last game if we’d have taken our chances.
“And we know what we have to do to get what we want out of that game.
“We’re going to need a similar level of performance that we got against Ross County for sure because they are going to do everything they can to be the first team that beats us from a league point of view.”
The Easter Road pitch has taken a battering over the winter but Gerrard won’t look for excuses.
He said: “I take everything into consideration all the time. I look at all the details.
“We always try to pick a team that is capable of winning the game, of course.
“But certain things you have to take into consideration around that as well.”
