Nisbet’s pushing forward for Euros
WHEN David Marshall’s outstretched arm t hwarted Aleksandar Mitrovic in Belgrade last month, it wasn’t just those Scotland players who danced a jig of delight on the sodden turf whose lives changed forever at a stroke.
Without wishing misfortune on anyone, there will inevitably be some of Steve Clarke’s squad from that epic night who suffer injury or a drastic loss of form before the final countdown to the Euros gets underway. Others who are presently on the fringes will time their runs to perfection.
If the Scotland manager had to pick a side to face the Czech Republic in the opening game tomorrow, the chances are that Kevin Nisbet wouldn’t be in it.
Yet, if the Hibernian forward maintains his impressive start to life at Easter Road into the New Year, the triple-header of World Cup qualifiers in March might just be a different story.
Look the part against Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands and it will be extremely hard for Clarke to overlook anyone. Playing in a more withdrawn role against Hamilton, Nisbet dragged defenders out of position and intelligently linked the play.
An 11th goal of the season for the 23-year- old was welcome but almost a footnote on a supreme exhibition of how to play the forward’s role. Quite why it took the former Partick Thistle and Dumbarton player until his move to Raith Rovers in 2018 to truly demonstrate his worth, only he could fully explain.
On the back of hitting 23 goals with Dunfermline last season, though, his trajectory now appears to be ever upwards. Lyndon Dykes can tell you where that leads to.
Conscious that much water has to travel under the brigade before Clarke picks his next squad, Nisbet is understandably reluctant to talk up his case. But his football is articulating it for him.
‘I am not one for looking into the future,’ he said. ‘Obviously I would love to be in the Scotland squad but right now I am just focusing on Hibs, taking it game by game and trying to put good performances in and keep winning games.
‘If a player is in form, then there is a really good chance you will get picked but it is game by game for me at the moment and hopefully I will get picked.’
On this evidence, Hibernian could be well represented next summer. Paul Hanlon, Ryan Porteous and Paul McGinn, who have all recently been called up by Clarke, strolled through this one and provided a solid defensive platform for a resounding victory.
With Melker Hallberg offering midfield steel and Joe Newell orchestrating the game, Accies were putty in the fingers of Nisbet, Martin Boyle et al.
That Hampden horror show against Hearts and the lax display at Pittodrie which followed are now ancient history. The response has been a six-game unbeaten run with 16 goals scored in the process.
‘We dominated the game,’ added Nisbet. ‘Melker and Joe absolutely ran the show and created space for us to go and attack and win the game.’
Hibs never looked back from the moment Boyle sent keeper Ryan Fulton the wrong way from the penalty spot ten minutes in, following Charlie Trafford’s brainless shove on Porteous.
Christian Doidge (right) atoned for missing a one- on- one by heading home Drey Wright’s deep cross five minutes from the break, with the margin of victory then the only outstanding issue.
Paul McGinn claimed the pick of the bunch with a ferocious right-foot strike on 65 minutes and Nisbet tapped home Boyle’s cross three minutes later. One week
on from cruising to victory at Motherwell, Hibernian won comfortably again, primarily because their application was relentless. When that’s added to prodigious talent, results tend to take care of themselves.
Play in this fashion and Alloa will do well to make a game of it when they welcome the Leith men in the Betfred Cup quarter- f i nal tomorrow.
With that loss to Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-final still fresh in their minds, Jack Ross’s men still have some making up to do. They’ll need no one to remind them, though, that their city rivals came a cropper against Alloa in the previous round of the Betfred Cup.
‘We are really hurting from the last semi-final but that is behind us and we showed we are a really good team by bouncing back and by our position i n the l eague,’ added Nisbet. ‘Cup games are cup games and anything can happen. We just want to work hard and try and win it but first of all we need to deal with Alloa on Tuesday and try to get to the semi-final. ‘It’s is a massive game for us and a chance to get to a semi-final and put a few wrongs right. ‘They are a really good team. I played against them last year as well, so I know all about them. ‘They move the ball really well on their pitch, so it will be tough for us but we need to go and put in the same kind of performance that we put in against Accies.’ Brian Rice’s men shouldn’t dwell on this mauling for too long. They simply ran into a side that are a level above them right now and who would have beaten most in the division on this form. More i mportantly, Ross County and Livingston are next up. Provided Hamilton eliminate the basic errors which killed them here, those matches might well be season-defining.
‘We knew it was going to be a tough game against a Hibs team which is flying,’ said skipper Brian Easton.
‘When we look at the goals we gave away, we didn’t help ourselves. Each one was avoidable and if we are giving a team as good as Hibs are just now chances like that, we’re going to get punished.
‘We need to be careful we don’t let this knock us down.’
HAMILTON (4-5-1): Fulton 5; Hodson 5 (Winter 60), Stirling 5, Martin 5, Easton 5; McMann 5, Callachan 5, Trafford 4 (Thomas 55), Martin 6, Smith 5 (Owolabi 45); Moyo 5 (Hamilton 70). Subs not used: Gourlay, Hughes, Stanger, Mimnaugh, Munro. Booked: Trafford, Martin, Callachan.
HIBERNIAN (4-4-2): Marciano 7; P McGinn 7, Porteous 7, Hanlon 7, Stevenson 7; Boyle 7 (Bradley 83), Hallberg 7 (Magennis 76), Newell 8 (S McGinn 82), Wright 7 (Mallan 76); Doidge 7, Nisbet 8 (Gullan 70). Subs not used: Barnes, Gray, McGregor, Doig. Booked: None. Man of the match: Kevin Nisbet. Referee: Kevin Clancy.