Liam Kelly can’t defend Rangers collapse against Hibs as goalkeeper admits ‘we weren’t strong enough’

A well-prepared defense, a busy schedule, and even the chilly Easter Road weather. In an effort to lessen the collapses that cost Rangers so much in their 3–3 draw with Hibs on Sunday, Liam Kelly could blame any of those if he was searching for an excuse. However, the goalie at Ibrox was not in the mood to defend the long list of errors that once again sent Philippe Clement’s team reeling backwards, only days after they had made a major stride forward by defeating Celtic. Hamza Igamane’s early double put the Ibrox team ahead 2-0, and they displayed speed, movement, and menace for thirty minutes in Leith.

However, all of that vanished as soon as they were unable to handle a rather ordinary set-piece. After the Gers lost the battle for the second balls, Martin Boyle scored, and the build-up to the contentious penalty ruling that saw the Hibs captain tie the score was even more careless. Even with 15 minutes remaining, Igamane completed a hat-trick, allowing the Ibrox team to regain control.However, the Light Blues’ vulnerability, which has seen them lose seven of their ten away games this season, was evident to all when they let Rocky Bushiri pull David Gray’s team level late in the game for the second time. Furthermore, Kelly has no justification for that.

“I was really irritated that we didn’t come away with a victory after scoring three goals,” the Light Blues backup goalkeeper stated. If you score three goals in any match while playing for this team, you should win the match easily.Therefore, the defensive moments we displayed truly irritated me. It was careless on our part. Three goals should never have been given up by us. A dreadful goal for Hibs’ first was recently revealed by us. Together, we handed away a terrible objective.A terribly terrible goal and it gives them life in the game, which they never, ever had. It was out of nothing as well, really, a set piece, obviously.

“We don’t defend it as a team and we gave them hope when we were so, so good in the early stages of the game. It’s so annoying. That isn’t how playing for this club should be. If you score three goals while playing for Rangers, you should win the match. On defense, there were times when we lacked the strength and quality. The game should have been won by us.Early on, Clement’s team dominated the Hibs defense, giving the impression that they were headed for that. Nico Raskin, the substitute captain, was continuing his success from Thursday’s Old Firm victory by sprang into challenges and launching passes.

The Hibs defense was being torn apart by the mobility of Ianis Hagi, Nedim Bajrami, and Vaclav Cerny, while Igamane was leading Rangers with a clinical finishing show that had not been seen from a striker since the days before Alfredo Morelos upgraded to an XL shorts. As long as you understand the points, Kelly is cool with that. Ultimately, the gap on Celtic was allowed to revert to 13, meaning that the Gers had to settle for only one. The former Motherwell goalie stated, “I thought we played well – but we didn’t defend well in moments.” There was a ton of excellent stuff, but when you lose a game, no one cares.

Nobody cares if you don’t cross the finish line and win, so I won’t even sit here and try to waste anyone’s time by discussing the positive aspects. We must examine the things we did poorly and make an effort to eliminate them. “All of us, we started turning the ball over too much,” Kelly said when asked whether he could pinpoint the cause of the issue. We were never able to hold the ball long enough under pressure. After the half an hour, everyone saw there were some wonderful moments for us in the game, but when you turn the ball over and you give Hibs momentum, you allow them to get the fans up.

“It’s sloppy, it’s slack from all of us. When you look to improve, Thursday was wonderful, it was the ultimate high, but that’s why we’re so far off at the moment, because in these defensive moments, we’ve not been strong enough. It’s something we’re aware of, it’s something we’re striving to become better at but again, on Sunday, we didn’t do enough.” Kelly was beginning just his third game in goal for the Ibrox side as he was pushed into a defence with left-back Ridvan Yilmaz starting on the opposite flank as cover for missing skipper James Tavernier. With John Souttar and Leon Balogun both sidelined, utility man Dujon Sterling was again expected to step into an unfamiliar central defensive spot, partnering Robin Propper for just the third time.

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