Hibs manager John Hughes plans to give Kevin McBride a chance to prove his fitness for a place on the bench before finalising his squad for today's game against Rangers at Easter Road. Midfielder McBride has been out of action for more than a month with an ankle injury, which required specialist treatment this week. 'Keeper Graham Stack will also have to prove his fitness before he can be considered for action following a back problem. Hughes cannot call on Kevin McCann just yet as he needs game time after recovering from his troublesome hamstring injury. Howvere, Hughes did get a boost when the Ivory Coast allowed Sol Bamba to delay his link up with the national squad to allow him to play in today's game. 
 

Kevin Thomson is unlikely to have a part to play in the game today as he is waiting the results of a scan on a calf injury he picked up during last Saturday's 6-1 win over Motherwell. Pedro Mendes will still be on the sidelines but Maurice Edu could take the next step on the road to full recovery from a knee injury. Manager Walter Smith insists he is taking nothing for granted as Rangers head into the New Year at the top of the SPL. The Ibrox boss expects the game against Hibs, Dundee United and Celtic over the festive period to be crucial to any hopes of retaining the title. But he insists recent history has shown the halfway point provides no guarantee of positions come the end f the season. He said: "It's always nice to be top of the league and you want to try to be there. But, last year after the Old Firm game, we were seven points behind Celtic and managed to claw that back. So it's not an indicator of how the league will finish. But it will certainly give us an indication of how close we are going to be after these three matches."

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