Porteous grateful to Lenny for shot
RYAN PORTEOUS has thanked boss Neil Lennon for putting his faith in him after he starred in the win over Rangers on Saturday.
The 18-year-old was handed a start at Ibrox and made the most of his chance to impress as he produced an accomplished performance against the Light Blues.
A first-half strike from John McGinn and late penalty from Jamie Maclaren clinched a crucial victory for Hibernian as they moved to within two points of Graeme Murty’s side in the Premiership standings.
Lennon was without the likes of Darren McGregor and Paul Hanlon for the Gers clash but led his side to a second triumph in Govan this term.
Porteous said: “I wouldn’t say calm. The first 15 minutes I was trying to find my feet, but players like Efe [Ambrose] and Lewis [Stevenson] made it easy for me and we have the attacking players like Scott Allan, who walked into the team and made the job easy for me.
“When Darren and Paul came in from the game on Wednesday with knocks, there was maybe the chance I would start.
“The gaffer told me to be ready, and all season I’ve tried to be ready when called upon. I only had a couple of days to think about it, and I didn’t get a great sleep the night before, but it was a good experience.
“He [Lennon] has given all the young boys a chance to play and shown a lot of faith in us and we’ve got to pay him back. On Saturday we did that.
“I just tried to treat it like a development game. I tried not to be distracted by how good he is, or anyone else is, I just tried to play my normal game.
“I’ve come off the bench a couple of times, so it was good to just get back on the pitch.”