ROB Jones believes Hibernian must crank their game up to another level if they are to make it a hat-trick of wins in Sunday's encounter with Rangers.
The Easter Road side followed up their 2-1 victory over Dundee United with a narrow 1-0 triumph against top-flight newcomers Hamilton on Saturday, thanks to a stunning Derek Riordan strike.
However, Mixu Paatelainen's hard-pressed outfit were for
ced to defend heroically for much of the second half as they held on for a precious three points that sent them fourth in the table and handed them a boost ahead of this weekend's visit of league leaders Rangers.
Jones was full of praise for his team-mates for the way they battled their way to a rare away win against Hamilton.
However, the skipper admits they will have to maintain a higher level of performance if they are to keep their run going against the on-form Ibrox men.
He said: "To win the game against Rangers we have to move forward from what we did last week.
"We showed both sides of our play, the very good and perhaps not so good.
"We showed we can defend and attack and if we can find the right mix of that and continue through the season with that then we will be more than okay.
"It all points to a very interesting game and I have a feeling everyone will enjoy it."
Rangers fans have snapped up their entire allocation of briefs for the match after Hibs carried out the sale in the face of Old Firm demands for a five per cent levy for handling away tickets.
And, with the match being televised live, Jones is hopeful the home supporters will also rally round in large numbers to spur their favourites to victory.
He added: "All players love nothing better than to play in front of big crowds and we are certainly no different.
"It's great for players when there are big crowds behind you and encouraging the players, as our supporters always do, in particular, when we play Rangers.
"The supporters play a vital role in these games but at the end of the day we are the ones who have to produce the goods on the pitch.
"I know the game is on television but there is nothing better that being there in person. You can watch and enjoy the game at home but actually being there is a completely different experience.
"There is nothing quite like 90 minutes in the atmosphere that these games generate, and for us the more of our supporters who are there the better."
The full article contains 449 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
