Hibs’ Head Coach Jack Ross has praised the resilience of his players after yesterday’s victory over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Kilmarnock went into the game on the back of three successive victories and were one place behind Hibs in the table but Ross’s men dominated the match and created a number of good chances whilst keeping a clean sheet at the other end.
That result sees Hibs leapfrog Aberdeen who face Celtic today into third place in the table.
Speaking to Hibernian TV after the final whistle Ross said: “I’m delighted. We were acutely aware coming into the game how difficult it would be given Kilmarnock’s form and coming away from home but I thought that different aspects of our performance was really good.
“We were really good defensively in terms of we what we limited Kilmarnock to and then created more opportunities and we could maybe have killed the game off but overall I’m really pleased with the players.
“We knew we were going to have to be resilient defensively. They put a lot of crosses into the box and make you defend and you have to be brave and strong within that but even the work rate from the strikers and midfielders to try and stop them doing that was terrific.
“It’s been a really pleasing day in terms of the commitment and level of the players’ work rate.
“There are different ways to win football matches. Last Saturday we went away from home and were really good in terms of the number of opportunities we created but could only take a point.
“This week we don’t create as much but we win the game, but the common thread in both games is the clean sheet.
“Consecutive clean sheets away from home in the Premiership is really good and if you do that you give yourself a chance of taking the three points.”
Ross was delighted with the performance of Joe Newell who produced a man of the match performance. He added: “We made the decision pre-season that we were going to play Joe more central and chatted to him about it and he is more than confident doing that. He has some really good attributes that help us be creative.
“His performance levels this season has been very good. He is another one that we have got to keep at and make sure he keeps striving to hit them every week but his contribution to the season has been excellent.
“To hit 24-points after 12-games, you have to be good and the players have been so far.”
One negative however was the injury picked up by Lewis Stevenson who was making his 475th game for the club which makes him a doubt for next week’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts. He left Rugby Park in a ‘moon boot’ after turning his ankle on the artificial turf.
Ross continued: “Lewis (Stevenson) is an absolute dream to work with, his professionalism and how he is as a person. His willingness to do anything you ask him to do for Hibs is brilliant and he’s been unfortunate in terms of the injury he has picked up today but of there is any possibility of him being fit for next week he will be because of the type of character he is.
“He’s been an outstanding player for Hibs and he continues to be an outstanding player because of his performances.”
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.
