AFTER the high of Hampden and victory over Celtic on Sunday, Rangers were brought back down to earth at Easter Road on Wednesday night.

While Mark Warburton and the players will be disappointed with the defeat, and the performance, it doesn’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things for Rangers.

And it certainly won’t have an impact when they face Alan Stubbs’ side in the Scottish Cup final next month.

Hibs had a hard game at the weekend as well as they beat Dundee United on penalties but they had the extra day to recover and that helps.

For Rangers, the league is won and it is going to be difficult for the players in the next three games. Hibs have everything to play for in the league and Rangers don’t now.

The worry for me is the way we gave away the goals. On Sunday, the all-round performance was great.

But then we are two down after 18 minutes at Easter Road with two of the silliest goals conceded you will ever see.

The two central defenders can’t handle a throw-in and the second one is a cross that Wes Foderingham didn’t deal with. Just like that, you are 2-0 down. That is something that we can’t afford to do.

The team have shown that they are up to the task this season but they weren’t on Wednesday night. They had so much possession, which is incredible at Easter Road, but we didn’t do enough with it.

The manager will be telling the players that they can’t just play when they want to play. You have to do it consistently.

It was always going to be a hard game, especially coming after Sunday, but that is something you have to live with as a Rangers player and Mark will have learned about his squad.

You have to perform consistently at a high level and be able to handle runs of big games. It will be something for the manager and players to look at.

Hibs played a different system and it suited them. We now maybe know what to expect in the Scottish Cup final.

Having seen it work on Wednesday night, I would think Alan Stubbs will be thinking the same way for the final. It will be something Rangers will have to combat and they will obviously have to play better on the day when it comes.

You can’t look into this game too much looking ahead to the final. The matches between Rangers and Hibs this season have been good games and we have won more than we have lost.

The final is not at Easter Road, it is not a league game and it will be completely different from Wednesday night, and every other game between the teams this season. It is a one-off, a winner takes all.

It will help Hibs knowing that they can beat Rangers and they will take a bit of confidence from Wednesday.

You saw the way they reacted after the game, you would have thought they had won the league and the Scottish Cup.

That is what it means to beat Rangers and for their players and their fans, it will be a huge lift. Rangers will be well up for the final there is no doubt about that.

We have to keep it going between now and then. After the St Mirren game, we have a three week break while Hibs have several games to try and get themselves into the Premiership.

But Mark has a plan in place to handle the gap between the fixtures and ensure the side is in the best possible shape for the final.

It has been a long, hard season but we need to keep it going over the next few weeks to go into the final in good form.

But that is way off. The focus now is Alloa on Saturday and hopefully we can put on a performance at Ibrox to finish the home fixtures off in style.

It will be another full house, the players will get the appreciation from the crowd, and they will be keen to put on a good show this weekend. The fans are delighted at where Rangers are and how far they have come this season.

They have been entertained for the majority of the season. It will be a great occasion on Saturday but we have got to keep the momentum going.

You can’t just turn it on when you want. You have to keep that focus on winning and that is what the manager will be stressing to the players.

It was terrific on Sunday and Rangers got all the plaudits they deserved but Wednesday night wasn’t great. Rangers have to be at their best between now and May 21 and hopefully we can start the party with a better showing on Saturday.