How will Hibs cope without trio of AFCON stars? Uganda ace talks squad confidence and Edinburgh Derby TV plans
Easter Road side face Dundee United, Hearts and Aberdeen before turn of year
Jordan Obita believes he’ll return from the Africa Cup of Nations to a Hibs team flying high in the Scottish Premiership. And the Uganda defender says he’ll be doing his best to follow the second Edinburgh Derby of the season from his country’s base in Morocco – even though he’ll be preparing for a crucial clash with Tanzania just a few hours later.
Obita has become a key player for The Cranes just six months on from his first call-up by Uganda boss Paul Put. The 32-year-old was allowed to delay his arrival at the pre-tournament training camp in order to answer a wingback SOS for his club in last night’s agonising 1-0 loss to Rangers at Ibrox.
Miguel Chaiwa is a rising star for Zambia
But the wingback is flying out to join up with his international team-mates tomorrow. Uganda face Tunisia on December 23, Tanzania four days later – and Nigeria’s famed Super Eagles the day before Hogmanay.
With Rocky Bushiri already in camp with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Miguel Chaiwa joining up with Zambia, Hibs will be without a trio of key squad members for – at the very least – Dundee United away, Hearts at home and Aberdeen at Easter Road. Obita is confident, however, David Gray’s men will cope admirably during his absence.
“You know, we've got so much quality here,” said Obita. “And I believe that we will get, hopefully, maximum points while I'm away.
“Obviously me, Rocky and Miguel are away. But we've got so much quality. We've got loads of players who can replace us.
“I'll be off on Wednesday. I'll be off to fly to Morocco. I'm going to meet up with the training camp.
“I'm really looking forward to competing in a major tournament for my first time. I'll be looking forward to it.
“It’s such a huge tournament. I'm playing against high-quality players, which I'm really looking forward to. To test myself against them sort of players.
“And of course it’s a major tournament. It's not one that everyone gets to play in.
“So yeah, this was the aim when I got called up. Once I heard that I was going to get called up, I was really excited.
“I knew I needed to obviously impress in the qualifiers for the World Cup, and also the friendlies, to make sure I was in the team for the AFCON.”
How long will Hibs stars be away?
Rarely anything but entertaining and unpredictable, AFCON will attract the attention of Hibs fans for a few obvious reasons. As much as they’ll be supporting Obita, Bushiri and Chaiwa, there’s a natural desire to have all three back in harness for the club.
Easter Road veteran Obita, addressing his nation’s chances, insisted: “We set our standards high. We want to qualify out of the group.
“We've got a tough one. We've got Nigeria, Tunisia, Tanzania. So it'll be a bit tough, but it's one that we believe that we can hopefully get through.
“We finished second in our World Cup group. We didn't finish in the top four for the best third-place teams. But no, we've got a good group of players that fight really well together, and we always believe in our qualities.
“With AFCON, there is always a surprise all the time. Like I said already, we've got Nigeria, who's got unbelievable talent. But if you back yourself and work hard as a team, anything can happen.”
Obita limped out of action in the 2-1 home loss to Celtic at the end of last month, raising some fleeting fairs that he might be out for the longer term. Back in time to face Rangers, a necessity with Nicky Cadden battling back from a hamstring problem, he’s relieved to have proven his fitness ahead of the tournament.
“As you're probably aware, my training camp (with Uganda) started on the 9th of December,” he said, adding: “And I had that injury, which delayed my release.
“But the club and the nation obviously were in communication together to make sure that I was right, and make me available for this game before I head off to AFCON.
“To be fair, myself personally, I didn't know what was happening. I felt pain. So that's why I came off immediately because I don't want to risk anything. But yeah, I didn't know what was going to happen.
“I was hoping that I wasn't going to be bad enough to miss this game or even the AFCON. But I'm really grateful that I wasn't in a bad position. And the club got me back available for this game.”
Obita will be following Hibs games closely from Morocco
Explaining that events in the Scottish Premiership won’t be far from his thoughts even as he’s competing in his first major finals, Obita said: “Oh yeah, of course. Although I think of my games are actually on the same day (as Hibs fixtures). So one, I'll be looking out for the results and also hoping that we can win every single game that I'm away for.
“Yeah, I've got a game against Tanzania on the 27th, yeah. It’s an evening kick-off, so hopefully I can catch maybe the first half of the derby. But no, I'm really confident that we can get good results while I'm away.”
The next three fixtures represent difficult tests – and opportunities for upward movement – for a Hibs side who really struggled to hurt an unimpressive Rangers team at Ibrox. Obita was as baffled as anyone by his team’s inability to turn possession and territory into clear-cut chances.
“I thought the first half we were the better team, but then we go 1-0 down,” he said, adding: “The second half we were probably a bit more sloppy than the first half.
“Just trying to find that end product, whether it's a cross, whether it's a final pass. But yeah, I thought we competed really well, just conceding a sloppy goal.
“Yeah, you know, after any defeat there's always disappointment. But the good thing is the boys can get back on the training pitch and put it right.”