Mixu Paatelainen has told his players they will have to be more creative if they are to avoid a second defeat against Rangers this month.The Easter Road club make the trip along the M8 to face the SPL leaders just a fortnight after crashing out in the Scottish Cup fifth round at Ibrox.

While Hibs, who are leading the charge for UEFA Cup football in third place in the SPL, made Rangers work for the 1-0 victory, Paatelainen was disappointed his offensive players failed to cause any problems.

This time he is able to call on Colin Nish after the towering former Kilmarnock striker was cup-tied for the last match at Ibrox, and Paatelainen is hoping for a better performance.

He said: "I am looking forward to going back. I am disappointed with the way we played offensively last time.

"We defended okay but we obviously lost the goal when we were down to 10 men. Hopefully we can do better this time.

"We need to pass the ball better in the final third, make better runs and create chances.

"We never really created a chance last time we played there. To win the game we need to create chances and pass the ball better.

"Colin and Steven Fletcher have done well of late and it's a boost they are available to us in this game."

Tempers boiled over in the technical area two weeks ago as Rangers manager Walter Smith and Paatelainen were involved in a bust-up.

In the press conference after the game, Smith also accused Paatelainen of trying to influence the referee.

However, the Hibs manager insists there is no animosity between the pair as they prepare to pit their wits against each other again.

He added: "I will probably speak to Walter after the game but if I bump into him before the game then I am sure we will wish each other good luck.

"There is no bad blood at all. After the last game we had a laugh about it but there is no problem at all.

"I do think too much was made of it, there was too big a fuss about it because it was nothing."

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