Michael Weir: Gritty win comes at right time for Hibs

Ross Laidlaw performed well for Hibs in Dingwall

After throwing away the two-goal lead against Motherwell, it will have been a real boost for everyone that we were able to dig in and see out the victory even though we were missing three experienced defenders. Clean sheets are a major starting point for any team looking for success.

We’ve got some excellent defenders but the problem we’ve had for much of the season so far is that the defence hasn’t been functioning as well as it could as a unit. We’ve been a bit messy at the back lately, which hasn’t been helped by the fact we’ve had quite a few personnel changes in that area of the team, so hopefully Saturday’s result can kick off a period of resilience for us.

We were helped by a strong goalkeeping display from Ross Laidlaw. Neil Lennon was critical of Ofir Marciano after the Motherwell game and obviously hasn’t been happy with his performances. Managers have to make tough decisions and sometimes they feel they have to drop big players to get them focused and back into good form.

He’s taken the decision to change the goalkeeper and it’s paid off in the form of two victories over Livingston and Ross County. It obviously helps when you have an able deputy, and Ross has come in and done well. I’m sure Marciano will be back between the sticks soon enough but a wee spell out of the firing line will hopefully see him come back as a better goalkeeper.

In the meantime, Ross is likely to be a busy man when we head to Celtic Park on Saturday. The key thing if we’re to come away with any kind of result is that we remain resilient because we’re going to be severely tested through there. But we can’t afford to be negative.

The challenge is to go to Celtic Park and believe we can be the team to finally end their unbeaten domestic run. We’re a very capable side and if we try and have a go at them, we will have a chance because they have frailties that can be exploited.