Alan Stubbs’ verdict on Hibs’ victory over Livingston

Hibs’ Head Coach Alan Stubbs raised a few eyebrows last night with his four changes to the starting line up that beat Berwick Rangers on Sunday.

With vice-captain David Gray injured, Stubbs decided to rest popular midfield duo Scott Allan and Dylan McGeouch and striker Dominique Malonga.

Hibs dominated throughout and the game looked to be heading for a 1-0 victory but the changes looked to have backfired when Livingston equalised with four minutes remaining.

Thankfully for Hibs however Franck Dja Djedje grabbed the winner 25 seconds after the restart when he got on the end of a fantastic Lewis Stevenson cross which secured the three points leaving the Easter Road side with their fate in their own hands.

After the game Stubbs told Cliff Pike of Hibs TV: “I didn’t think the changes tonight affected the team at all at times. The strength in depth of the squad is good. It’s about us trying to keep the players fresh. That’s the most important thing. We want them fresh and hungry for the run in and when we feel that we can maybe rotate the squad a little, and it’s not going to affect things too much we will decide to do that.

“We’ve created quite a few chances and apart from Jason’s (Cummings) ones, we’ve had a lot of balls flashed across the box where we have nearly got someone on the end of them, good balls and with a little more care with the ball into the box and better runs but the most important thing is that we are creating chances.

“We were in control for the majority of the game. At 1-0 in football things can happen but I didn’t see Livingston opening us up. If anything we could have put the game to bed with one of the chances and it just eases everybody’s feelings and nerves around the stadium. I thought the reaction to going level was a measure of how far we have come.

“It was a brilliant finish from JJ (Franck Dja Djedje) and it was a goal worthy of winning any game but as I said the most important thing is that we have got three points, we’ve ticked another game off and that’s what you have got to do at this stage of the season. You have to find a way to get across the line.

“We are not always going to play entertaining football. We want to but we are showing a different element to us now. There is a determination and a desire to really see the job out to the best of our capabilities.

“It’s not easy when teams are trying to stay in this division and they have a lot of pride and are still fighting for the club. They can be just as hard games as playing against the teams at the top, sometimes even harder because they will make it very difficult and play for that one or two opportunities in the game that they can get.

“At 1-1 they are probably thinking that they have snatched a draw from something that probably never looked likely in the game but it wasn’t to be.

“Overall, I am really pleased. We are getting the job done at this moment in time and it’s great.