Nisbet targets return to Scotland fold as in- form striker seeks full match fitness
KEVIN NISBET had to be laser focused as he battled back from a serious knee injury and is determined not to be distracted now he is back fit and firing. Maddeningly inconsistent as a team, Hibernian have reason to be thankful for Nisbet’s dependability. Following a hat- trick to secure victory against Motherwell the previous weekend, the 25- year- old delivered when his team and manager needed it most with a brace and an injurytime leveller against Dundee United.
Having cancelled out Glenn Middleton’s early opener, Nisbet’s second equaliser rescued a point when all seemed lost. On both occasions, he fashioned the chance almost by himself and, having taken his tally to seven goals in six games since returning from his 10- month ACL layoff, there is plenty proof of his worth to the Easter Road side.
Should any scouts have been present on Saturday to consider the January move for Ryan Porteous that Hibs are keen to elicit in order to get some value from a player who will otherwise leave for nothing in the summer, Nisbet would have caught the eye. Johnson wants Hibs to learn from their Porteous lessons and attempt to extend Nisbet’s contract, which has 18 months left to run.
However, with his form sure to have also grabbed the attention of Scotland manager Steve Clarke, the player himself is eager to stay singleminded in his pursuit of his on- field goals as a Scottish Cup Edinburgh derby against rivals Hearts looms large on the horizon.
“Yeah, of course,” he said of his hopes of sending Scotland manager Steve Clarke a message. “But I’m just focusing on club football right now, getting myself back to full fitness. I don’t think I’m really there yet, I can definitely improve my match sharpness. And that will happen with more games. Steve Clarke phoned me as soon as I got the injury, told me to keep my head down, work hard and come back a better player.
“I’m just concentrating on getting back fit. I’ll let my representatives deal with [ my contract]. I don’t really want anything to get in the way, don’t
I can definitely improve my match sharpness. And that will happen with more games
want to be involved, just want to keep scoring goals. It would be a distraction. I try to keep as far away from it as possible, let my representatives get on with it.
“We’ve got a massive game against Hearts to focus on. I don’t want distractions going into that, when I’m so full of confidence. The Hearts game is massive, easily one of our biggest games of the season. Win that and we keep our cup run going and build confidence into two big games in the league, against Aberdeen and Ross County. So we dust ourselves down, try to identify what went wrong against United – and try to rectify those wrongs.”
Those wrongs were clear from the off. A disjointed Hibs team slipped behind in just the sixth minute when Arnaud Djoum was allowed to run free at a throw- in and his low centre was scooped high into the net by Middleton after a deft touch from the excellent Steven Fletcher. Kyle Magennis thundered a shot off the crossbar for Hibs before Nisbet restored parity for the first time in the 25th minute. Porteous, shifted back into defence from a still- incongruous midfield berth just a minute earlier, sent a superb diagonal out to Josh Campbell, who had also been moved from rightback to a more comfortable midfield beat. His low ball picked out Nisbet who danced round his marker and lashed a shot into the bottom corner.
Ian Harkes then took advantage of continuing nervousness in the home rearguard to surge into the box before finding the net via a deflection off Lewis Stevenson’s despairing challenge. The hosts had been level for all of five minutes.
Hibs could only get better after the break, but still displayed the lack of quality in the final third that drew accusations of “mediocrity” from Johnson following the New Year derby defeat to Hearts. Finally, Nisbet showed some class in the 92nd minute when he tamed a long Joe Newell pass and swivelled to arrow in his second equaliser.
“I just feel like I’m going to score in every game just now,” he added. “That’s what it’s like as a striker. When you’re scoring every week, every time you get a chance, you feel like you’re going to score.”
It was a draw that felt like a defeat for United, who were impressive for large spells, none more so than when Fletcher and goal- scorers Middleton and Harkes were involved. Still, seven points from a possible 12 shows welcome improvement.
“We’ve reached our target,” said Middleton. “When we came back from the break we wanted to get to 10th place and we’ve reached that. But at the same time it’s a really tough one to take. There’s no other way to put it, it feels like we’ve lost the game.
“In the first half we were brilliant and every time we went forward we looked dangerous.”