Nick Montgomery: Dens Park pitch out of our control but affects integrity of the competition

Nick Montgomery says Dundee's re-arranged game against Rangers affects "the integrity of the competition" but insists he will still be Hibernian boss next season as he looks to avoid what would be a depressing bottom-six finish.

The 42-year-old has had an up and down campaign since joining Hibs on a three-year deal from Australian side Central Coast Mariners last September, with a 2-1 home defeat to St Johnstone at the weekend bringing boos of frustration tumbling down from the Easter Road stands.

Hibs still have a chance of a top-half finish in the cinch Premiership as they prepare for Saturday's trip to Motherwell, who could also squeeze into the top-six, if Dundee lose both their matches to Aberdeen and Rangers, but regardless, Montgomery revealed plans are already under way for next season.

"Of course I still expect to be here," he said.

"I expect to be here for the duration of my contract.

"I looked at it as a big picture and looking at the future and what I wanted to implement at the club and how to rebuild it and I think there's been a lot of that this season.

"There's a lot of noise coming from the emotion of a game last weekend but I expect to be here next season.

"We've had a lot of discussions about recruitment for next season, knowing that there will be a good sized turnover in terms of players that are out of contract and targets that we've been looking at for the last couple of months."

There was a furore following the postponement of Dundee's game against Rangers at Dens Park on Wednesday night for a second time due to the unplayable pitch.

The match is scheduled to go ahead next Wednesday and this time alternative venues are being considered if the weather remains adverse.

The Taysiders remain a point ahead of Hibs with a game in hand. The Dark Blues travel to Aberdeen on Saturday before taking on Rangers which means they could know exactly what they need to do to finish in the top-six.

Montgomery is taking a largely pragmatic view to the situation, despite admitting it was far from ideal.

He said: "It's a little bit disappointing.

"It affects the last round and the integrity of the competition.

"I haven't really commented on it because it's nothing that I can control or that we can control but I think everyone knew there was a real good chance that that game was going to be off last Wednesday.

"It is a shame that there wasn't an alternative venue arranged for them to play the game.

"We'd like to think that we'd learn from mistakes in the past and there's been the mistake this week.

"So now hopefully moving forward, that's something that that can be better prepared for because there is enough stadiums where the game shouldn't be called off in April, 2024.

"So definitely, the clubs and the league can learn from it because there has to be consequences if the games are getting regularly called off.

"The consequence now is that Dundee haven't had a midweek game and they go into the game at the weekend and they still have a game after the split (final pre-split fixtures).

"I don't know if that's ever happened before. You can tell me but again, it's nothing that we can control and it doesn't change our mindset."

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