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All Change For Today's Game At Ibrox

Last updated : 09 March 2008 By Ed_ScottishFitba

Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen will be forced to change his team for the trip to Ibrox for today Scottish Cup 5th round reply. The team which were beaten by Celtic last week included striker Colin Nish (cup-tied) and defender Martin Canning (on the bench for Gretna in a previous round) will be kicking every ball from the stand. Paatelainen may bring back Abdessalam Benjelloun or may even be tempted to play Steven Fletcher up front on his own. Club captain Rob Jones should return after missing four of the last six games due to thigh and hamstring problems that have plagued him since before Christmas. Goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay (groin) and Guillaume Beuzelin (knee) are both racing to be fit in time. There are huge doubts over the latter and Beuzelin influence will be missed by the Edinburgh side if he fails to make the grade.

Paatelainen is preparing Hibs to be have-a-go heroes in the club's second chance to reach the quarter-finals. The original tie ended in a goalless draw at Easter Road but Paatelainen's side created enough chances to win comfortably. The Hibs manager he insists he will be setting his side up to do exactly the same today. After boning up of the Gordon Strachan 'Dealing With Stupid Questions From The Press Guide', when asked if it would be a similar game, he replied: "We realise the pitch is about the same size, there's 11 men on both teams and the ball is the same. So we'll keep it the same. We'll be positive and we'll go out to score goals and hopefully not to concede too many. It's a massive game - whether it's the SPL, League Cup or Scottish Cup and we want to win every game. It will be the same on Sunday. I don't care as long as we win. I am not bothered if it's an open game or a tight one. We don't want to concede goals but we want to create chances and put them away. Of course we want to be positive and we realise we need to score to win the match." The Hibs boss was an interested spectator on Thursday to watch Rangers UEFA Cup win over Werder Bremen. Rangers are in the middle of a hectic schedule as they compete for silverware on four fronts, but Paatelainen expects the Light Blues to be ready. He added: "I don't think there'll be any effects from that game. They have seasoned professionals in their team who are used to playing midweeks and weekends so it's just a normal week for them. I've no doubts they will be ready."

Rangers will be without goalkeeper Allan McGregor today as he is suspended and will be replaced by back-up goalkeeper Neil Alexander. Manager Walter Smith can welcome back Jean-Claude Darcheville who is now free from suspension, after serving the last of a three-match European ban against Werder Bremen. However, there remains a doubt over his involvement due to a hamstring strain, and of course fellow striker Daniel Cousin is out with a broken jaw. Steven Naismith is ready to step into the gap created to start paying back a huge chunk of his £2million transfer fee. Naismith is keen to take over where the Gabon international left off after he suffered his injury in the UEFA Cup win over Werder Bremen. Naismith missed out on selection against Bremen but is hoping to be back in manager Walter Smith's line-up for today's cup game. Naismith expects another difficult tie against Hibs and admitted: "It (sitting out of the Werder Bremen game) was very frustrating but obviously the manager's got a job to do. He's got a team to pick but unfortunately for me it wasn't my turn. Hopefully I can get back in the squad for the weekend. They've (Hibs) picked up their form and are getting back to their old ways of last season. They're playing some good football. But hopefully we can score a few goals this weekend." As well as Europe and the Scottish Cup, Rangers have next weekend's CIS Cup final against Dundee United to look forward to, and they remain four points clear of Celtic at the top of the SPL. Naismith would love to win all four trophies, insisting: "That's obviously our aim. We're not in them just to dilly-dally about. I think the priority for everybody is the league and the other three will take care of themselves."

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