As the sun comes out in Govan, the tempo has dipped a little after a frantic start. Rangers have another free kick near the Hibs box. Will they threaten again?

Conor Goldson meets this one but steers his header well wide.

Rangers striker Jermain Defoe is full of beans as he leaps to control a flashing cross from James Tavernier. The ball drops his way as he spins near the six yard box but Darren McGregor is over to mop up with a solid intervention.

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It looks like Ryan Gauld has been given a free role to support lone striker Marc McNulty. The wee Hibs midfielder has had a few nice touches already.

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Hibs winger Daryl Horgan is in acres of room as he kills a high ball over the top of the home defence but he lacks support and Rangers are able to snuff out the danger before setting off on a swift counter-attack.

Jermain Defoe is nearly in but Ofir Marciano is off his line quickly to smother.

The hosts are inches away from taking an early lead as Scott Arfield glances a James Tavernier free kick just wide.

A big cheer at a noisy Ibrox and we're up and running.

Asked how he plans to continue Hibs' unbeaten league run, manager Paul Heckingbottom tells Sky Sports: "Doing the same things, we know if we want any chance of getting into Europe we need to win today but we want that approach anyway in every game so we’ll play on the front foot. We’ll take chances to try and create things so I think it will set up for an entertaining game."

Asked if it was a difficult decision to put Alfredo Morelos on the bench, Steven Gerrard tells Sky Sports: "No, simple. He is a fantastic player, he’s scored a heavy amount of goals for us but like any other position in the pitch if payers perform well in the shirt they earn that shirt for the game after, that’s just the way it is.

"Jermaine Defoe has been in smashing form. He’s been really good and strong in training and in the games, so he deserves the shirt right now and that goes for any other position. If you play well for me you earn the shirt and you keep it."

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Rangers manager Steven Gerrard tells Sky Sports: "A few teams within the league have damaged us in terms of the amount of points they’ve taken away from us, Hibs being one of them. But, in terms of the performances, we’ve been very good in those games - we’ve not been as ruthless as we should be and as clinical as we can be."

It has actually been four draws in a row since Hibs and Rangers shared 10 goals in a remarkable final-day meeting last season.

Home fans were delirious as Hibs raced into a 3-0 lead on 22 minutes at Easter Road but the visitors were 5-3 ahead by 68 minutes.

Jamie Maclaren scored a hat-trick goal in stoppage-time to complete the madness.

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Will we get a winner in the final meeting of these sides this season?

In December, a goalless draw at Easter Road was quickly followed by a 1-1 at Ibrox.

The points were shared again in a 1-1 in Edinburgh in early March, with Hibs coming from behind in those last two.

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Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom was full of admiration for the hosts in his pre-match media conference but also backs his players to continue their good form.

"There's an intensity to Rangers under Steven Gerrard and when they are performing to their maximum they are really good to watch, really difficult to play against," he said. "Away at Hearts is a good example, where they can blow a team away in a short space of time.

"We are wary of that but we think we've always got a chance. We'll bother about how we perform, about how we set up. If we do that, we'll give anybody a game."

On his unbeaten league run, he adds: "It's important, it's momentum and reward for the hard work but you have to put it to the back of your mind. All we want to do is try and win this game. If we go there thinking we don't want to get beat, we'll be setting up totally different."

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Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has also sounded a warning to fringe players who are thinking of hanging about next season.

"I can’t have people hanging around my squad being a drain or energy-sapper within the group," he said in this morning's papers.

"If there are players I don’t need, it’s easy to address that. I’ll show the players an honesty and respect. If there’s someone who I don’t feel I can give happiness to, in terms of game time, then I’ll tell him. Then the decision’s out of my hands.

"My squad will be tight, small and full of people who will be playing in games and contributing to our success. If I have that conversation with someone and they decide to stay, they won’t be around my group."

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Hibs head coach Paul Heckingbottom was at Tynecastle yesterday to see Kilmarnock beat Hearts 1-0.

He might not admit it, but a home win would have suited him better.

Hibs are now seven points behind Aberdeen and Kilmarnock with games to come against both after today.

To have any chance of climbing up from fifth and grabbing a European spot, they are going to need to need three wins on the spin.

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Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has been talking to the Sunday newspapers after his first year in charge and reckons there is much to be done to improve the standard of Scottish football.

He said: “If I’m honest, it has been a little worse than I thought. So it has been mixed.

"Certain games have been good. Some of the ones we’ve played in or that I’ve watched have been of a higher quality than I expected.

“But at times, I’ve been disappointed too watching certain games.

"The stadiums haven’t been full and when it comes to the standard, the ball has been in the air a lot.

"I suppose it’s the same in every league, some games blow you away and others disappoint.

"I’m not criticising Scottish football but when stands are empty on TV, it doesn’t look great on the eye."

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Earlier this week, Rangers pair Steven Gerrard and Scott Arfield picked up the Premiership manager and player of the month awards for April.

"Scott has been by far the best player in the league over the last four to five weeks, scoring goals, making goals," said Gerrard. "But not just that, it's the work he does off the ball. He's an absolute pleasure to coach."

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Paul Heckingbottom is another newcomer to Scottish football from England and the former Barnsley and Leeds boss is making this management game look easy.

Hibs are unbeaten in 10 league outings since he replaced Neil Lennon and he has won all four of his away trips.

His only black mark was a cup defeat to Celtic and he might still be feeling a bit sore after letting a lead slip at home to Hearts last weekend.

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Yesterday marked the anniversary of Steven Gerrard's arrival at Rangers.

The former Liverpool captain has packed a lot into his first year as a manager.

He has signed 20 players, enjoyed a run from the first qualifying round to the group phase of the Europa League and earned the club's first win over Celtic since season 2015-16.

It's not all been rosy, with some of those signings better than others, disappointing cup exits against Aberdeen, a few too many red cards and draws but there is no doubt the team is much-improved and Ibrox has been re-energised by the presence of the 38-year-old.

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Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Flanagan, Jack, Kamara, Davis, Arfield, Kent, Defoe.

Substitutes: Foderingham, Worrall, Halliday, Barisic, McCrorie, Candeias, Morelos.

Hibernian: Marciano, Gray, McGregor, Hanlon, Stevenson, Milligan, Mallan, Omeonga, Horgan, Gauld, McNulty.

Substitutes: Bogdan, Bartley, Agyepong, Kamberi, Murray, Shaw, Spector.

Alfredo Morelos returns from a four-game ban but the Rangers striker must settle for a place on the bench as Steven Gerrard sticks with the same XI that started in last weekend's win over Aberdeen, with Ryan Jack recovering from a throat infection.

Hibs make one change from the derby draw with Hearts as Ryan Gauld replaces Florian Kamberi.

This will be a first start for the on-loan Sporting Lisbon midfielder under Paul Heckingbottom. No sign of Vykintas Slivka, who replaced Kamberi at half-time last time.

Full line-ups coming up...

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