Hibs midfielder Liam Craig may have scored his first ever hat-trick last night, in the League Cup win over Stranraer, but manager Pat Fenlon believes it will be the performance of winger Abdellah Zoubir that will get the fans talking. Craig scored three of the home side's goals in a 5-3 win as the League One visitors gave as good as they got against their top-flight opponents. However, it was winger Zoubir who caught the eye with a series of fleet-footed dribbles and a deflected first-half strike after he was given his first start a month after switching from French Ligue 2 club FC Istres.Fenlon said: "Zoubi gives us something different. It was a good game to get him in tonight and give him a taste of the atmosphere here. I think the supporters will enjoy him over the course of the season. It's unusual that Liam got the three goals but the fans will probably go home talking about Zoubi. The first half in particular, I thought we got him on the ball and he is definitely hard to play against. He has really good feet, his balance is good and he is strong. He even did well in the air for us and almost scored off a header. We're delighted to be in the next round. We knew it was going to be a tough game for us. In the last round they beat Ross County so we were on a hiding to nothing. We knew we had to win the game and that we should win the game. But we have to give them a lot of credit for their performance. I also have to give my own players a lot of credit as we played well at times. We reacted well to losing the early goal but the confidence is in them right now and you can see that from how they came back from that early set back."Stranraer manager Stephen Aitken said of his players: "I'm proud of the lads. Although we got beat I thought they were great, especially in the second half. When it went to 4-1 it could have been difficult but we rolled our sleeves up and at 4-3 we had a couple of chances that could have made a difference. People have criticised us when we have been two negative and now we are getting criticised for being too attack minded. You can't win. It was a decent game tonight and I think you have got to give Stranraer credit as well. They played really well and scored some decent goals. There were chances at both ends and the score could have been a bit higher, maybe 7-6. There is a few of them who take penalties after training. Liam, Rowan and James all want to take them but they sorted it out themselves and let Liam take it. We're delighted to be in the next round. We knew it was going to be a tough game for us. In the last round they beat Ross County so we were on a hiding to nothing. We knew we had to win the game and that we should win the game. But we have to give them a lot of credit for their performance. I also have to give my own players a lot of credit as we played well at times. We reacted well to losing the early goal but the confidence is in them right now and you can see that from how they came back from that early set back."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
