'I'm proud of our fighting spirit' - Hibs boss on battling comeback at Rugby Park

Newell and Maolida strikes draw Monty's men back from brink

Maolida celebrates his goal with McKirdy and Obita.

Hibs boss Nick Montgomery hailed his team for showing desire – and refusing to crumble – as they battled back from 2-0 down to earn a precious point against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. And he singled out the contribution of his substitutes in tilting the momentum in favour of the visitors on a wild afternoon in Ayrshire.

Montgomery, who made a triple change by throwing on Myziane Maolida, Christian Doidge and Rory Whittaker just after his team conceded their second goal, saw Whittaker involved in the Joe Newell goal that breathed new life into the Hibs cause. And he then watched as Maolida scored an excellent equaliser against a Killie side reduced to ten men by a soft red card for Corrie Ndaba.

Monty said: “The team showed a real desire. The Hearts game (a 2-2 draw at Tynecastle back in October), we came back from 2-0 down for the first time in four years. So that's the second time in four years. That gives me a lot of belief.

“And if we win the game with Doidge's header, that's the first time in seven years from coming 2-0 down to win the game. But we have to stop conceding and chasing the game.”

Pleased with what he’d seen from the collective after falling two behind, Montgomery said: “You either crumble or you stand big - and I thought there were some really big performances in that second half. I thought our first goal really gave us belief and the subs that came on, Myziane when he came on, the guy is a top-quality player. He needs to get fit. He’s not played since November, but I thought he caused all sorts of problems and deserved his goal.

“It’s really disappointing not to get out with three points. Doidge’s open goal at the end, that’s his bread and butter. It’s a free header, it looks like it is going in and it drops wide. We'll take a lot of confidence from that today.

“I thought the fans were amazing. It's probably been a difficult period for them as well, but I want to win every game, I want the performances to bring the results, but that doesn't always happen. I've got full belief in what I'm doing and where the club going to get to. It's a process now and a bit of a transition.

“The squad's getting revamped, there's players going out on loan, new players coming in. And I always said the players coming in need to be better quality than what we've got. They have to make an impact on the team.

“And I thought today you saw that with the new signings coming in. I'm really proud of the boys coming back. I felt we should have won the game. We were better team. And I thought if there had been a little more added time at the end, I thought we had the momentum to go on and win the game.

“Considering that, we'll take the point. This is a difficult place to come, and we'll take that confidence. It's more minutes in the legs for Emiliano Marcondes, who I thought was outstanding again. He's not played for a while and I knew bringing him in this window, it would take a few weeks to get him up to speed.”