Popular Hibs’ defender Darren McGregor was delighted to return to first team action yesterday after missing a large part of the season due to injury.
McGregor has patiently waited on his chance but the good form of fellow defender Efe Ambrose and Paul Hanlon has kept him on the sidelines however injuries to key players opened the door for his comeback and he more than justified Neil Lennon’s faith in him.
Hibs’ victory sees the team leapfrog Rangers into third place in the table, only one point behind Aberdeen and Hibs face both plus Celtic in the next two weeks.
After the game a tired McGregor told Cliff Pike from Hibs TV: “I’m absolutely delighted. I’ve been training with the guys for three weeks now and knew I’d get back into the team eventually but due to good form it was difficult to break into the squad. To be fair, my legs were cramped up toward the end.
“There was a wee opening today with Whits (Steven Whittaker) and Dave (David Gray) being out so we went to three at the back and the gaffer (Neil Lennon) gave me the nod yesterday.
“To come here and come away with three points, we are delighted. a clean sheet away from home and a vital three points means we go third and we can cement third.
December will be a really hard month and the gaffer said before the game we had to make this game the benchmark for the month. We have a tough week ahead, we know that but this result puts us in a good position.
“I was a bit refrained from playing 20s games as it’s hard to get up to speed so I said to the gaffer that I’d just like him to trust me and put me into a game. I know that’s a big ask as I’m centre of the defence but he did that today which worked out well.
“The strength in depth of the team is great. To lose Steven Whittaker, David Gray, Danny Swanson and Liam Fontaine and still be able to field a team as strong as that and still have guys on the bench as well speaks volumes.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
