Hibs have to get closer to Celtic and Rangers admits Lee Johnson as he gets set for double header

Lee Johnson insists Hibs are desperate to give the Old Firm a bloody nose as they prepare to host Rangers then Celtic in the next eight days.

The Easter Road side have climbed to fifth on the back of a four-game unbeaten run that included beating rival Hearts and an impressive draw with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday.But Johnson wants them to take another step and prove they can get closer to the big two. The Glasgow giants both visit Leith starting with Rangers on Sunday then the champions next Wednesday.

And having taken only one point from six previous encounters against them - that being a 2-2 draw with Rangers way back in August - Johnson is desperate to claim a victory before the end of the campaign. After a 6-1 thrashing at Celtic Park in October he claimed Scottish players are “brainwashed” into thinking they can’t beat the Old Firm. Rangers then won 4-1 on their last visit to Leith in March. And Johnson told Sky Sports: “They’ve been fantastic every time we played them. Easter Road was probably their best performance other than at the weekend.

“We were a little below par on an emotional day for us as we celebrated the life of Ron Gordon. This is a new game for us though, we have a couple of players back from injury and are in good form ourselves. It’s an important one for us. It’ll be a sell-out which is massive at Easter Road. It’s one we feel we’ve got to get closer to the Old Firm in terms of points and wins and performances.

“You constantly have to turn the dial in terms of how much you can release bodies forward or how many men you have behind the ball. But we are at home and then the fans demand that level of attacking prowess and generally we have shown them that this year and they’ve been buoyed by