Ignore the gap - why league table means nothing to Hibs team chasing 'all or nothing' derby win at Hampden
Reedijk’s men take encouragement ahead of all-Edinburgh semi-final
Hibs fans have been told to ignore the league table as their team mount an “all or nothing” mission to take down high flying Hearts at Hampden. And fit-again wide man Nicky Cadden believes a battling point in last night’s clash with St Mirren gives his team “something to build on” as they pursue a place in the Premier Sports Cup Final.
After three straight defeats under new boss Marink Reedijk, Hibs finally bagged some sort of result with a 1-1 draw in Paisley. Cadden, making his first start of the season after being out with a calf injury, brought an extra edge to Hibs with his deliveries from the left – including the corner kick that led to a first goal for centre-half Marko Ivezic.
Draw moved Hibs up to 11th in Scottish Premiership
The result saw Hibs climb off the foot of the Scottish Premiership table. But they’re still eight places and a dozen points behind Hearts after 11 rounds of fixtures.
Asked what he would say to fans to inspire belief ahead of Sunday’s semi-final, Cadden declared: “Listen, derby games are never about league position. I've played in a few, and I know that it's definitely not about that.
“The form goes out the window. And as you can see, if we perform, we can give them a really good game.”
Cadden’s return as a starter on the left wing came as a massive relief for a player who, previously under Reedijk, had been restricted to playing as a stand-in left back as Hibs chased games from a losing position. Unable to make a contribution as his team slumped before David Gray’s dismissal, he’s pleased to have shown the new gaffer something in his favoured position.
“Yeah, obviously I'm delighted to be back,” he said, adding: “I've had to wait for my chance and I think I've done alright in the game.
“Before the international break I was playing through an injury, and then the international break came at a good time, I had time off and I had to basically get it right. And then the training camp in La Manga got me fit again, and yeah, just hard work and training, and hopefully I proved that against St Mirren.
“Yeah, obviously it's hard to be out. You want to do your best for Hibs and do your best for the club and help your team-mates out. And I felt I couldn't do that.
“That's the most frustrating thing about being injured. It's like, yeah, you go into work every day and you're going to the gym while people are going out to train.
“Listen, these things happen in football, it's probably not going to be my last injury either, so it's like, I'm old enough and experienced enough that I know these things happen. I just want to help out the team as much as I can, and yeah, I think I've done that tonight.”
Two points dropped - Cadden
Despite avoiding a fourth straight loss, Hibs left Paisley feeling hard done by on the night, with Reedijk and his players all feeling that they could – and should – have won the game, Cadden saying: “Of course, I thought we were actually quite good. Maybe just need to be better in both boxes, and I think, yeah, we're hurting in there.
“I think that's two points dropped, if I'm honest with you. But there's something to build on, and it's a point on the board, and then we go on to Hamden on Sunday and a chance to play a cup final.
“Hopefully that’s us off and running. Obviously, as you can see, I thought we were good against St Mirren, and they're a good team as well, they're doing really well. Obviously they've changed their manager as well, and he started off really good this season, and changed the style of play.
“I felt we nullified them, and we played to our strengths enough, apart from being better in their box, I felt we were quite good.
“We just need to build on that, and we're seeing that in the dressing room as well. Obviously we've dropped the two points, but it's a point, and we're not going to get over-excited about it. Because at the end of the day, we should have done better with their goal, and shouldn't have lost the silly goal that we did.
“There is still a good feel-good factor in there. It's also a wee bit of disappointment, because we know we should have won the game, and we were the better team.
“But as I said, it's a point, it's something to build on, and we'll take it into Sunday. It's all or nothing to get to a final.”