David Marshall defends the record of Scottish clubs in Europe as Hibs captain looks ahead to St Mirren test

The struggles of Scottish clubs in Europe this season has not dampened the enthusiasm at Easter Road for Hibs to finish in third place at the end of the campaign and potentially win themselves at least eight games on the continent.
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The victory by rivals Hearts on Thursday evening against Latvian side RFS was only the second win by a Scottish clubs in the group stages this season – a collective record of played 15, won two, drawn two, lost 11, with both triumphs belonging to the Jambos.

It’s been looked upon as almost a step back, a regression from Scottish clubs after the positivity of recent seasons with Scotland qualifying for a major international tournament for the first time in over two decades along with a real boost in the domestic league’s co-efficient, aided by Rangers’ run to the final of the Europa League.

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For last season and the current one, this helped land a spot in the play-off round of the Europa League for the team who wins the Scottish Cup or, if it’s a top-two side, the team who finishes third in the league table. With the losers dropping into the Europa Conference League group stages, it’s an appealing carrot at the end of the stick.

Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall talks to the press ahead of Saturday's game against St Mirren. Picture: SNSHibs goalkeeper David Marshall talks to the press ahead of Saturday's game against St Mirren. Picture: SNS
Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall talks to the press ahead of Saturday's game against St Mirren. Picture: SNS

From the perspective of David Marshall, who has seen a lot in a professional career spanning over 20 years, the toils of this season from SPFL clubs was almost an inevitability for those who haven’t experienced this level of football in years, or ever.

“The more Scottish teams in Europe the better. The introduction of the Conference League has given everyone an extra target,” said the Hibs goalkeeper and club captain.

“It’s something we are aiming for. Hearts were extremely consistent in the league last year and they got to a cup final and into Europe. It’s probably not going as well for them as they would have liked but being in Europe stretches your squad.

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“It has been difficult Champions League campaigns for the Old Firm. There may be a lack of experience there because they have not been in the group stages for a number of years.

“Unfortunately at that level, a lot of it can come down to funding and budgets and the teams at that level of the game are at a different levels in terms of finance.

‘It’s probably right not to be overly critical of them. I think Rangers might feel a bit more unhappy about their campaign but it can happen. When the draw was made, everybody could see that Rangers probably had the toughest draw out of the whole Champions League.

“Celtic have maybe been a little bit unlucky with certain goals and chances missed. Ultimately they will both be disappointed if they both don’t finish in the Europa League but it will be a good experience for them.

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“The coefficient have grown to allow the two of them in the Champions League and if the two of them were to get back there again next season they would be all the better for it.

“There’s definitely a lot of positivity about Scottish football. The national team has kicked on since eventually reaching a tournament.

“We have got players playing at the very top level down south now. So there’s nothing but positivity about Scottish football just now. There will be disappointment about the European form but it’s a growth thing — it takes time, money and experience.”

A club currently occupying one of the two positions between Hibs and the coveted third place is Saturday’s opponents St Mirren. Stephen Robinson’s side have defied the odds and pre-season expectations to have an excellent campaign to this point, including a victory over Celtic, as they currently sit in fourth in the table, level on points with Aberdeen.

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"It’s going to be a tough game,” said Marshall. “There’s probably been three or four games this season where we feel we have let ourselves down and the St Mirren game in the first part of the season was one of them. There will be no excuses in terms of what they bring.

“They’ve been really consistent and for their club to be in joint-third is great credit to their manager and how he has started there. It will be tough but the focus in training has been about us. If we perform well we believe we can beat anyone in the league at Easter Road.

Asked whether he felt they were caught cold by the Buddies earlier in the campaign, he said: “No, I just don’t think we performed. When you analyse it we had a lot of possession, especially in the first half. We just never made it count and we gave away a sloppy goal. And St Mirren are very good defensively so it’s tough to break them down. They are very much a counter-attacking team and we need to be wary of that.

“They’ve had some fantastic results. They obviously beat Celtic before the international break as well. So it will be tough but we are looking to bounce back after the disappointment of last Friday night.

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“The way they attack the box from deep something we’ve worked on and focused on this week. There will be no surprises. It was a learning experience playing against everyone in the first part of the season. But once you’ve got your eye in you know what most teams are about. We’ve had a lot of new players coming in and hopefully it makes sense that we get better in the second half of the season.”

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