Scott Allan hails Martin Boyle as a game changer

Hibs playmaker Scott Allan has hailed the return of super-quick Martin Boyle after he sparked a second-half demolition of Aberdeen.

The Australian winger grabbed two goals before striker Flo Kamberi’s superb solo run brought a third to complete what Allan described as Hibs’ best performance of the season.

Allan was the creator for Boyle’s first goal with his perfectly-weighted pass before Kamberi allowed him to again display his lightning fast pace to notch his second, and the Swiss-born hitman clinched the three points.

Boyle has spent much of this year recovering from two serious knee operations and, revealed Allan, he’s been badly missed.

He said: “Boyler is one of the quickest players in the league so that makes the pass slightly easier. When you’ve got someone like that you play it into the space and he’s got a great chance of catching it. He still had a lot to do but he dinked it over the keeper and slotted

it away. That got us up and

running.

“The team has missed Boyler. You can’t buy that kind of natural pace. He gives defenders all sorts of nightmares because they don’t want to leave space in behind them and that frees up space for the other players. That’s a massive plus for us.

“It was a massive game from Boyler today and I’m delighted for him especially after the year he has had with injuries.”

Allan admitted that having enjoyed such a comprehensive win over a side such as Aberdeen only brought home the frustration of having dropped five points in the previous two games against Kilmarnock and Ross County but claimed keeping a clean sheet for the first time since the opening day of the league season was just as important.

He said: “A clean sheet was big for us. The defence has done good work in previous games and not got the clean sheet they deserved. The last two games were disappointing because we were in a good position but today answers that.

“Aberdeen have been a consistent side for three or four years so that was a bit of a statement I feel.”

And, insisted Allan, it was a case of needs must to secure that victory - including an aimless boot up the park from him to keep the Dons out.

He said: “We earned the right to go and play. It was stuffy at times and we did what we had to do. It was the first time in my career I’ve punted the ball forward to nobody. That was an experience. The boy were buzzing with that. But if that’s what you need to do then that’s what you need to do.

‘There’s no point taking risks because getting the clean sheet was important. We didn’t want to concede a late goal and the win and clean sheet will give us confidence going into our next match against Celtic.

“We will just take every game as it comes. We’ve lost something like two games in 14. It’s not too bad. But the main thing was getting a win - and a clean sheet. That was big for the squad.”