Nick Montgomery in Rangers red card warning as he tells Hibs players to be 'smarter'

Nick Montgomery has called on his Hibs players to be “smarter” against Rangers as he urged them to avoid any kind of repeat of their red card collapse when the sides met in the Scottish Cup earlier this month.

The Easter Road gaffer takes his side across the M8 as the Scottish Premiership resumes after the international break and the Edinburgh side are looking to end a wretched Light Blues run this season which has seen them concede goals without reply in three meetings, including a 4-0 defeat in Philippe Clement’s first game in charge of Rangers in October.

But there was a sense of frustration with the last outing, a 2-0 loss in the Scottish Cup when they had two players sent off inside three mad minutes. Jordan Obita was given his marching orders for a second yellow card before Nathan Moriah-Welsh was dismissed for a challenge on John Lundstram.

Montgomery - who will welcome back Martin Boyle after he suffered a sickening head knock in that clash - was raging at the time but has spoken to his players about the need for cool heads this time to avoid giving referee David Dickinson or VAR Wilie Collum any reason to take action. Asked if he’d discussed the need for cool heads with his players, the Hibs boss told the Edinburgh Evening News: “Yeah, for sure. Football is an emotional game. Nathan knows, looking back on it, that you can’t give any excuse to the referees or officials to have to make tough decisions. That’s something he’ll definitely learn from.

“Jordan was also disappointed after the game, because he was on a yellow card and walking a tightrope. He knows you can’t get involved in anything. Whether it’s right or wrong, the decision was made. It had been a really good game up until that point. That’s gone now.