Parker wanted crocked hitman to come off

HIBS hero Florian Kamberi was so desperate to bag a Euro hat-trick that he told assistant boss Garry Parker there was no chance he was coming off at half-time.

Parker, calling the shots with gaffer Neil Lennon serving a European ban, wanted the Swiss star to sit out the second period against Runavik on Thursday after suffering a knee injury.

But the hitman had already netted a double and insisted he wanted to stay on for a third.

So it wasn’t until Kamberi completed his treble in the 6-1 romp against the Faroese minnows that he made way for Simon Murray.

The striker said: “I had some pain in my knee at half-time and the coach wanted to take me off at the break.

“But I told him I wanted to play for another 10 minutes because I wanted my hat-trick!

“When I got that goal I was happy to come off.”

Kamberi is the first Hibees hitman to grab a European treble since Alan Gordon’s heroics against Hadjuk Split in a CupWinners’ Cup tie in 1973.

It’s the 23-year-old’s second hat-trick in his short Easter Road career after destroying Hamilton in a 3-1 win last season during his prolific loan spell from Grasshopper Zurich.

More could now follow after he made the move permanent earlier this summer and Kamberi joked he may have to put up some extra shelving to store all the match balls.

He said: Every striker likes to score hat-tricks but the important thing was it was the first game and a first win.

“It’s not just about me, it was a great display from