Hibs star: 'We were under pressure - but proved we can handle it.'

Lewis Miller and Brad Lyons in no-holds-barred contest at Easter Road.

Hibs players believe coming through the pressure of a long winless run – and breaking that dismal streak with a gritty victory – can only help them build momentum for the season ahead.

Seven games without a win heading into Saturday’s visit of Kilmarnock, Nick Montgomery’s men scored the only goal of the game and withstood a late fightback to secure all three points ahead of the international break.

Having dropped points from winning positions three times already under Montgomery’s leadership, his players felt they needed to prove themselves in a tough contest.

And Aussie defender Lewis Miller says the value of the result shouldn’t be overlooked, admitting: “Obviously there’s been a lot of pressure on us.

“I think we’ve managed it quite well – and now we’ve shown we have that quality and that fight in us to hold out and scrap for a result.

“So we’re buzzing with the three points - and hopefully there’s more to come in the next few weeks.

“We’ve had a few unfortunate results where we've conceded in the last minutes, so it was good to see the boys be really resilient.

“And we got that clean sheet, which we needed for confidence. Now it’s a matter of momentum and whether we keep that going and stay consistent.”