Source: FOOTYMAD
Hibs Just Made It
Hibs nearly blew their chance to return to Europeean football but a win over Dundee United means their fans can dust off the passports again. Hibs John Hughes can barely contain his excitement about the prospect of leading his team into Europe after their 2-0 win over Dundee United secured 4th place in the SPL. Colin Nish scored twice to give Hibs a ticket to the Europa League for 2010-11 as Motherwell fought back against Rangers to secure a 3-3 draw which left them just short of a place. They will need Dundee United to win the Scottish Cup to join Hibs in the European stage. Hughes felt his Easter Road players merited finishing fourth after a season which saw them play some excellent and diabolical football. Hughes was particularly pleased his side managed to get their 'admit one' Europa League ticket with a clean sheet after conceding six in their thrilling midweek draw at Fir Park. He said: "It has been a fantastic season and I think the boys have deserved fourth spot. We have played some great stuff throughout the season and we have always had goals in our team. The most pleasing thing is getting the fourth spot which guarantees European football but I was also delighted we kept a clean sheet today after what happened during the week. I thought we defended bravely and Buzz (Graeme Smith) looked assured when it was a real test of his character. I think Dundee United may have had one eye on the Scottish Cup next week and I can understand that but we still had to do the business. I'm delighted for the boys and the staff for all their hard work and the supporters who have something to look forward to next year. It will give everyone a buzz when they are on their holidays." Hughes enjoyed the style of football played in the early part of the season and wants his side to maintain those high standards next season - but for a bit longer. He went on: "What we have done this season raises expectations but you need to be big enough to handle that if you are at a club like Hibernian. We always want to be battling for the third and fourth spots and push the Old Firm as much as we can as well as be looking to win a cup. That is what goes with being at a club like this." With a cup final to look forward to at the weekend, it was not much of a surprise that Dundee United boss Peter Houston was not worried that his side's impressive league campaign ended in defeat. He said: "We have to credit our players as our job of finishing third was completed three or four weeks ago. For us to not to have a great end to the season but still finish nine points ahead of the team in fourth is credit to the players. We have had a great season and it hasn't finished yet. The fact that we have been in a position in the last three or four weeks where we knew we couldn't finish lower than third means we have done well throughout the season. I have nothing but praise for our players. It doesn't matter that we have lost going into a cup final because we will be at it 100% next week." Houston made six changes for the visit of Hibs ahead of the Active Nation Scottish Cup final with Ross County in mind but the United manager was not worried about angering Motherwell who missed out on a guaranteed place in Europe to the Easter Road side. He added: "I don't care what other people think. A few weeks ago against Rangers I made six changes and drew 0-0 and I made six changes before another of our recent matches. Today we had Casalinuovo and Shala up front who are both first-team players and three of our back four have played in the last couple of games. In the middle of the park was Swanson and Robertson so I don't think it was an awful lot of change. The good thing for me was we have had three games in a week and we have been able to give guys like Conway, Goodwillie and Daly a rest ahead of next week. We have looked after ourselves in the league and it is up to other teams to look after themselves." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
