Nick Montgomery in defiant Rangers verdict as Hibs boss claims scoreline flattered visitors with 3 let offs named

Hibs boss Nick Montgomery insists a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Rangers was NOT fair on his struggling side.

The Easter Road side struggled to lay a glove on Rangers on their own patch as Ridvan Yilmaz, Todd Cantwell and Cyriel Dessers racked up the goals to seal a Scottish Premiership stroll for Philippe Clement's side as the league emerged from cold storage. It leaves the Hibs boss without a win in his last four league games with the capital side two points ahead of Aberdeen in sixth - with the Dons having played two games less.

However, the boss was in bullish form following the full-time whistle. Asked of the 3-0 scoreline was a "fair reflection on the game", the Hibs boss told BBC Sportsound: "No, I don't think so. I don't think it was a 3-0 game. It became a 3-0 game because we missed massive moments in the game. We have two one-on-ones with the goalkeeper at 2-0 and that could have been 2-2, but it wasn't to be. Elie Youan has a great chance in the first half and has a header late in the game.

"If you don't take your chances against a team like this the game is going to be stretched and then you end up chasing the game. Did we deserve anything out of the game? No, we didn't. But look at the situation we are in right now. It's a difficult period for the club and me as a manager picking a team when we have nine, ten first-team boys not available at the minute. That is out of my control, but we are working around the clock to try and get boys back fit. We should get boys back from international duty soon. But that is not going to define our season, so we put that behind us and start preparing for the weekend."