Scott is our biggie in the middle
Darren insists Allan’s Easter Road return completes midfield as good as Celtic’s
DARREN McGREGOR reckons Celtic’s decision to sanction Scott Allan’s return has handed Hibs a midfield that is a match for the champions.
Allan walked back into Easter Road on loan on deadline day two and a half years after sealing his switch to Parkhead.
The playmaker joins Scotland international John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch in the middle of the park for Neil Lennon while Marvin Bartley offers muscle.
Martin Boyle and Manchester City loanee Brandon Barker, who is set to undergo a second scan after suffering a hamstring injury in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Rangers, provide pace on the flanks.
And centre-half McGregor insists he wouldn’t swap his team-mates for any other midfielder in the country.
He said: “You look at the middle of the park and the bodies we have going forward now.
“With adding Scottie Allan to it you’ve got Dylan, John, Brandon and Boyle on either wing – it’s one of the best midfields if not the best outside Celtic. And even then it’s comparable to them for me. The boys are playing so well at the minute.
“But talk is cheap and we can’t get carried away because there have been a few good results.”
Allan was named Scottish Championship PFA Player of the Year in the season leading up to his Celtic move and the 26-yearold hopes a familiar environment will again bring out his best.
McGregor arrived at Easter Road from Rangers little more than a week on from Allan’s initial departure in 2015.
But the 32-year-old admits he is a huge fan of the former Dundee United and West Brom player who spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Dundee.
He said: “I rate him as one of the best midfielders in Scotland. I don’t know anybody who plays a pass or drives forward the way he does – John McGinn to a certain extent.
“Scott sees passes no one else sees. Sometimes they don’t come off but he’s so confident and has that streak of arrogance about him that he demands the ball, constantly wants to drive forward and constantly wants to take people on.
“He is a great acquisition and we’re lucky to have him. I believe certain players play better at different clubs and he’s one of them.
“He was a hit or a miss at Dundee and in and out. But he’ll play every week here and he’ll have that freedom to roam because he’s such an exceptional player. He adds to what’s already a tremendously strong midfield.”
McGregor hopes to be fit for the Premiership visit of Aberdeen a week on Saturday after picking up a hamstring strain in last Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Motherwell. The defender endured a miserable afternoon at Pittodrie in their last head to head in December, being hooked at half-time after Hibs shipped three goals in the 4-1 defeat. Derek McInnes’s side were also 1-0 winners at Easter Road in October and McGregor insists fourth-placed Hibs – eight points behind the Dons in second – have a point to prove. He said: “We know Aberdeen is going to be a tough game and we know they’ve given us a tough ride so we’ll be looking to beat them. “It was one of those days up there but they played well, caught us cold and made an example of us. We need to use that feeling we had after the game – or me at half-time because I got hooked – as motivation because they do seem to be getting one over on us.
“It would be great to win. We know it will be a hard game as they have good players similar to ourselves in most positions, so it will be an interesting game.
“Rangers have beaten them twice and Celtic convincingly but they seem to raise their game against us.
“When we got them here you could argue it should have been a draw at least – one bit of magic and they score – although the last game was a write-off.
“You beat them and the gap is down to five. We’re not too far behind Rangers so we’re still in touching distance.
“We’re close to Rangers and near Aberdeen but a win against them changes that. “A defeat would make it very difficult to catch them but we need to believe we can finish as high as second.”