Exclusive:Hibs ace weighs in on 'plaudits' for pundit favourites Motherwell ahead of Easter Road showdown
Two points separate Euro challengers in historically tight table
Easter Road favourite Jamie McGrath insists “fantastic” Motherwell deserve all the plaudits they’ve received in a season of up-ended expectations across one of the tightest campaigns in the history of Scotland’s top flight. But he’s warned the Fir Park fliers that Hibs will bring their own significant threats to the stand-out fixture on this weekend’s Scottish Premiership dance card.
Hibs head into Saturday’s home game knowing that a victory would see them leapfrog Jens Berthel Askou’s much-lauded Motherwell into fourth place in the table. David Gray’s men have won three games on the spin to put themselves in the mix for European qualification – at least – in a campaign where all bets are off in the race for major prizes.
Grant Hanley red card at Fir Park tilted November meeting between teams
McGrath, who suggested that November’s 2-0 away loss to Motherwell might have panned out differently had Grant Hanley not been red-carded with just over half an hour of the contest gone, understands why Hibs have flown under the radar in comparison to a team earning rave reviews for their possession-based football. And he has no complaints over the hype surrounding the Steelmen.
“They're a fantastic team, they're playing some really good stuff,” said the former Aberdeen and St Mirren star. “And they're getting their plaudits because they deserve it. We know we're going to have to be right at it and set up for a great game.
“Yes, I can see why you’d say that (about Hibs not getting a lot of attention). But we're not really focussing on that ourselves. Because we know we can be better.
“The early results in the league probably didn't justify how well we played in those games. We've come out either drawing or losing when I don't think we deserved to.
“Hopefully it's starting to balance itself out now. We're starting to get a bit of the rub of the green. It's a long season, we can't get carried away.
‘Brilliant football’ under Jens Berthel Askou
“Yeah, of course, they're playing brilliant football, Motherwell. It was a tough one over there – but we would have liked to have 11 men on the pitch for the majority of the game. The game might have been different.
“They have really good patterns. They keep the ball very well and they can hurt you as well.
“They have threats all over the pitch. But so do we. So should be set up for a really good game.”
Hibs head into the game with confidence soaring after a straight hat-trick of wins over Hearts, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock in the space of a week. Despite taking a maximum nine-point haul from the festive programme, the Edinburgh side didn’t move a single place in the league standings – but did move to within four points off second spot.
“We know how important the last three games were for us,” said McGrath, the Irishman adding: “It wouldn’t define our season – but we knew it was a pivotal time for us, that it could go either way. We’ve got the bounce forward – and now the aim is to try and catch teams above us.
“It’s set up really well, home game against the in-form team in the league, with a chance to go above them. So we're going to have to be right at it. We're going to have a big crowd right behind us and they'll bring good travelling support as well.
“We know it easily could have gone the other way. We can't get too ahead of ourselves - but it's a nice feeling to pick up a clean sweep at the end of the week.
“I think it's the tightest the league's ever been. We've seen it again at the weekend. Anybody can beat anybody.
“I think that's the beauty of the league this year. Regardless of the league position, we knew playing Kilmarnock was going to be a really tough game.
“Going to Rugby Park, I think the gaffer said it was five years since we’d won there. He made that quite clear to us before the game.
“It was a well-earned, hard-fought three points. They made us defend the box and they're really good at what they do. To score three goals away from home, we have to take some pride in that.
“It was a big week for us. Three big ties, three tough games. To come out the other side of it with nine points, we couldn't have asked for more.
“I think the squad has been heavily called upon and all the boys that have helped out over the week have been immense. It’s great for everybody and hopefully it's a bit of a momentum builder for us.”
David Gray’s men enjoying ‘grafting’ for wins
As well as Hibs have played in recent games, the fact that they’ve also managed to withstand pressure to get results – holding off a late fightback by Hearts, taking until injury time to get the killer second against Aberdeen and even weathering a storm after conceding an equaliser in Saturday’s 3-1 win in Ayrshire – has been pleasing. Not least to the players responsible for those victories.
McGrath said: “Of course you'd rather win games comfortably. But there's a nice feeling about grafting. Like against Kilmarnock, we put everything into defending our box. The three boys at the back were phenomenal, winning everything in the air.
“There is a nice edge to it, coming out the good side of a narrow victory. If you think back to earlier in the season, we might have drawn against Kilmarnock – or dropped points earlier in the week. So it’s nice to see us getting the results.
“Like I said, the squad's been brilliant. Everybody's training hard and you can see the rewards of it now.”
McGrath was central to Hibs getting the win on Saturday, metaphorically and literally, as the second-half introduction of Jordan Obita – back from AFCON duty – allowed him to move away from his temporary berth at left wingback. Restored to an attacking midfield role, he won and then converted a penalty.
Insisting he would have no complaints about returning to an unfamiliar position out wide, he said: “Yeah, it's been an enjoyable spell out there. I'm open to going out there again. Whatever the gaffer asks of us, everybody's happy to do it, even though it was a lot of learning.
“The gaffer's been brilliant with me and the staff, doing a lot of video stuff. Little things like body shape that you wouldn't really be too familiar with because I've never played out there. Just to make my job as easy as possible.
“Jack Iredale behind me has been brilliant, just talking me through the game and pulling me in if I need pulled in or letting me go if I need to let go. I can't speak highly enough of Jack. He's been great in my ear. It's been an enjoyable spell.”