How formation tweak could help Hibs get their mojo back

Buoyed by January signings and a formation shuffle, Hibs look to have finally found their mojo

When Hibs put out their starting line-up ahead of Wednesday night's game with Ross County, it's fair to say fans were a little surprised by the personnel. There was no Lewis Stevenson while Steven Whittaker - so impressive against Rangers last mid-week and BSC Glasgow on Sunday - and Melker Hallberg were also omitted from the squad.

Jack Ross later revealed that Stevenson and Whittaker were simply rested, while Swedish midfielder Hallberg had called off with illness. The Hibs head coach has been subtly rotating his team in recent weeks as the Capital club negotiate eight games over a 25-day period, with Vykintas Slivka and Adam Jackson both restored to the starting line-up in midfield and defence respectively.

But it might be the switch to a 3-4-1-2 formation which has a bigger impact on the remainder of the season.

The defence

There were still occasions against Ross County when Hibs looked decidedly shaky at the back, most notably when Iain Vigurs had a shot from close-range beaten away by Ofir Marciano, but the key takeaway from the match was the clean sheet- just Hibs' fifth of the season.

Paul McGinn is looking more and more like a shrewd acquisition. He may not have the chutzpah of his younger brother but time and again he thwarted attacks and kept Sean Kelly and Lee Erwin quiet on the left flank while Paul Hanlon, who has come in for criticism in recent weeks, had one of his better games on the left of the back three.

Jackson's presence in defence coincided with that rare clean sheet - although he played the full 90 minutes in the 1-0 win over St Mirren on the opening day of the season, came on for the last 15 minutes of the 3-0 win over Aberdeen in early December and completed the match as Hibs and Motherwell drew 0-0 in January. He was also part of the defence that kept clean sheets in the Betfred Cup group stage matches against Arbroath and Elgin City. The only clean sheet performance he played no part in was the Boxing Day win over Hearts at Tynecastle.

The former Barnsley man has been in the line-up during some heavy defeats such as the 3-0 reversal at Motherwell in August, and the 5-2 defeat to Celtic in the Betfred Cup semi-final but it speaks volumes that Hibs have only lost three of the games he has played in - and two of them were against the Glasgow clubs.

The midfield

Greg Docherty scored one and notched two assists against BSC Glasgow but even faced with opponents several tiers higher than the Lowland League side, he strolled the match. Hibs have been crying out for a midfielder capable of taking the ball from deep and driving forwards since the departure of John McGinn and while many have tried, none have managed to fill the gap as well as the on-loan Rangers man has in his early showings for Hibs. His low ball to the back post early on in the game deserved better than Boyle hoicking the ball into orbit, and it was his pass that paved the way for the opening goal.

Docherty's energy and reading of the game in the middle of the park frees up others to perform to the best of their abilities. The 23-year-old partnered Slivka in the middle of the park and the Lithuanian international had one of his best games in a while. The biggest criticism of the 24-year-old is his nagging inability to perform at that level each time he plays. With Docherty alongside him in the engine room, Jack Ross may have identified how to get consistently good displays from the former Juventus youngster.

With Slivka and Docherty taking care of the space behind him, Scott Allan was able to focus fully on unlocking the visitors' defence. That it took fewer than ten minutes says a lot about the effectiveness of the duo behind him as well as his own ability.

On one flank, Martin Boyle's pace caused problems for Ross County all night - Sean Kelly endured a torrid 90 minutes shadowing the speedmerchant while Liam Fontaine will have been only too aware of his former colleague's potency in attack and was cautioned early in the second half for illegally halting the winger.

Joe Newell has arguably had his best games for Hibs in a more central role, but he lined up on the left flank against the Staggies and left the park at full time with two assists from set-pieces. Given Hibs' proclivity to waste those sorts of opportunities, the coaching staff will have been cheered to see two goals come from corners, one in either half. Newell's performance wasn't the type to make fans sit up and take notice but it was effective, he tracked back to support Hanlon and he laid on two goals to take his assist tally to six for the season.

On top of the strong collective and individual performances from the midfield last night, Ross has players capable of deputising in all positions.

The forward line

Another game, another goal, 16 for the season and a worrying rise in the number of Easter Road fans now branding him "Lewandoidgeski" - after a forgettable start to his Hibs career, Welsh national team hopeful Christian Doidge looks to have finally clicked.

What is most promising for Hibs and Jack Ross is that the affable centre-forward delivers whether he's playing as a lone striker, as part of a two-man attack or spearheading a front three. While Ross County co-managers Steven Ferguson and Stuart Kettlewell will be disappointed with the defending for Doidge's goal, he has a knack of finding himself in the right place at the right time. The former Forest Green Rovers man could have found himself on the scoresheet before his 41st-minute strike but was crowded out as he looked for a way to goal.

Marc McNulty's return to Easter Road on loan was quite possibly the worst-kept secret on transfer deadline day. Fresh from his treble against BSC, he took a little over five minutes to find the net again, latching onto Scott Allan's sumptous through-ball and slotting it beyond the on-rushing Nathan Baxter in the County goal. He did miss a penalty late on and is quite obviously still making up match-fitness but the way he dovetailed with Doidge in the early stages of the match was a positive sign.

Furthermore, in McNulty and Doidge, Hibs have two strikers who are fairly disciplined in their roles. Florian Kamberi had a tendency to drift out to the left and was even tried on the left of an attacking midfield trio when Paul Heckingbottom and Jack Ross played a 4-2-3-1 formation, but this was often to the detriment of the team as a whole.

It may only be two games so far and only one against top-flight opposition but if the idea going forward is for Hibs play two up top, Ross looks to have an ideal partnership at his disposal, which he alluded to in his post-match remarks.

"What we have done is thrown Marc and Christian together and looked for a way to have the two of them in the team and see if it works, and I think they'll get better. I think there's more to come. The early signs are good."

They certainly seem to be.