Hibernian manager John Hughes has praised returning defender Sol Bamba for shrugging off the controversy of his pre-season row with the club in their Europa League defeat to NK Maribor.
Already behind 3-0 from the first leg, Hibs fell to a 3-2 reverse on the night and a 6-2 aggregate defeat, but Hughes saw some glimmers of hope in his team's display.
"I was delighted with big Sol Bamba's performance. I felt he was different class for someone who hasn't trained much," he said. "You could see the asset he was to Hibs."
He added: "Liam Miller was like a Trojan out there and big Colin Nish fought his corner. It was a good hard-working performance but it wasn't good enough.
"We were playing against a good side and what impressed me about them was they would suck you in and as soon as a pass went astray they would be right at you in numbers.
"They could also hit you with good pace on the counter-attack and I would like to wish them all the best.
"We just need to take it on the chin, get on with it and look forward to the domestic season."
Hughes must now pick up his team in time for their SPL opener on August 15 away to Motherwell, who ironically won through to the Europa League play-offs themselves with a victory over Norwegians Aalesund.
However, after criticising his players for their slack performance in last weekend's 1-0 defeat in a pre-season friendly at Carlisle, the Easter Road boss remains hopeful, with the help of the club's fans, that his team can emulate last season's fourth-place finish to return to the European stage next term.
He added: "We've still got a bit to go. I was really disappointed with the effort and the desire and the commitment in the Carlisle match on Sunday, albeit it was a pre-season match. But that was certainly there against Maribor and I would like to thank the supporters for really getting right behind us."
Source: PA
