Jamie McAllister speaks on Hibs midfield options and explains transfer decision

Jamie McAllister believes Hibs possess a number of quality midfielders – and explained why the club didn’t look to strengthen in the middle of the park before the transfer window closed.

Some supporters of the Easter Road side were alarmed at the lack of engine-room arrivals on deadline day, with strikers Mykola Kukharevych and Harry McKirdy arriving on loan from Troyes and permanently from Swindon Town respectively along with Manchester United centre-back Will Fish.

But speaking ahead of Hibs’ Scottish Premiership meeting with Kilmarnock McAllister, standing in for manager Lee Johnson who is recovering after undergoing emergency surgery to remove his gall bladder, said: “I think we’ve got quality in the midfield and the players we’ve got are important to us.

“There are obviously players you look at and think we might not get – I’m not saying that is a midfielder; it might be a right-back, left-back, centre-forward.

“You’re always trying to add and improve the squad, but you don’t want to just bring players in who aren’t going to improve the squad. We could have signed a couple of players who wouldn’t have improved the squad and we didn’t want to to do that.

“But in the midfield, I think we’ve got great quality in there.

“I know everybody talks about the three in the middle, but they’ve all got different qualities and they all add to the team.

“What makes a good, successful team is getting the right blend and balance in all 11 players; using everyone’s attributes and what they’re best at, and putting them in a position to get the best out of them.”