Grant Scott praised the ‘commitment’ of his players and that there are ‘positives’ to take from yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Celtic.
Hibs fifth SWPL match of the season was hard-fought for draw. An early goal from Natalie Ross was cancelled out when Kathleen McGovern leveled the field on 72 minutes.
Scott spoke to HibsTV following the match and reflected on the performance of the team. He described the performance as a ‘big change’ in comparison to the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup qualifying round against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
“We’ll take a lot of positives from that, I think the commitment level the players have shown again to the style we want to play. It’s a big change from Wednesday night.
“We’ve had to re-establish who we are in this game and I think you saw first half, we were disjointed.
“We weren’t really at it as much as we’d hoped after a reasonably quick start, but again the girls have taken on that information second half and taken the game to their opponent.”
Hibs had the perfect opportunity to go ahead in the closing quarter of the match with three strong chances taking place in quick succession. However, the Celtic keeper, Lisa Rodgers blocked the shots, ensuring the result remained a draw.
“We probably could have got the winner in the end,” Grant expressed.
“I think it might have been a little bit unfair on Celtic. I think it’s probably a fair enough draw to go away with but look it’s points we’re after and we’ve taken the bare minimum today so look we’re happy enough with it.
“I thought Noa in goals today looked a lot more like herself and her consistency was back, it’s all stuff to build on.”
New signing Jess Fitzgerald was brought on in the 64th minute for her second appearance of the season. Alongside Fitzgerald, Scarlett Herron and Milly Broughton recently signed with the team.
Scott discussed the impact the girls have already brought to the team and how the training which will be crucial for their development with the squad.
“I think all of the new girls that have come in deserve credit. It’s been a tough run for us, we’ve hardly been able to train with them but Jess and Scarlett coming across from Ireland obviously in season are probably match fit but possibly not quite our level of fit, so they’ve got a wee bit to go.
“Milly came in at a similar time and has probably missed most of her pre-season, so she’s a bit off the pace. But, we’re delighted to have all three, I think you saw some of the quality Jess is going to offer going forward today when she was on the pitch.
“We’ve seen enough from Scarlett and Milly during the week and how they’re going to affect our squad going forward, it’s all positive. I think certainly seeing Jess’ performance today was very good and I think signs of what she’ll bring.”
Hibernian return to New Douglas Park, on Sunday 28 September, where they take on Hamilton Academical.
Looking ahead to the next match, Scott stated the game will be tough but with a full week of training – which the team have not had since the start of the month due to European commitments – the team will be looking to bounce back with a victory.
“I think look we’ve got to pay our opponents a lot of respect, we’ll be sensible with our squad selection and team selection I think for this one because ultimately we need to get three points so that’s what our aim will be to come back here.
“Hamilton have proven to be very tricky for a couple of teams now, with tight scorelines and late losses in games, so we have to be on our game.
“We’ve got full weeks training this week which will help us a lot. We’ll get to rest and rotate some players during the week as well, so we’ll be ready for Sunday hopefully.”
