Ross hails strikers Nisbet, Boyle and Doidge for allowing Hibs to close in on collective goals

Hibs manager Jack Ross has lauded the contribution of his strikeforce in ensuring the team have something positive to aim for as the league season moves towards a conclusion.

Spearheading the Easter Road attack, Kevin Nisbet and Martin Boyle have two of the country’s top four Premiership goal tallies, with 12 and 11 respectively, while Christian Doidge has weighed in with five goals and, according to statistics, is ranked as one of the team’s top all-round contributors this term.

Nisbet’s performances have seen him included in the latest Scotland squad ahead of next week’s World Cup qualifiers, but he is not the only one smoothing the club’s way to a top-three Premiership finish for the first time in 16 years.

Nisbet and Boyle, who can also boast two and five assists respectively, were on the scoresheet in Dingwall last weekend as the Leith side equalled the club record for league away wins in a season, and the team could write a new entry into the record books if they could add to that at Livingston on Saturday.

While the whole squad have played their part, the gap between Hibs and goal-shy rivals Aberdeen highlights the value of a well-firing frontline, with Boyle hitting scoring form at the right time, netting six goals in his last seven appearances. Derek Mcinnes’ time as Dons manager came to an end last week on the back of his side scoring just one goal in nine games.

“I think you need players to hit double figures and move well into double figures,” said Ross. “You need that contribution of goals and if I look at our front three, the players who fill those striking roles, then we have had a pretty healthy goal return between the three of them.

“Martin is one who has maybe gone a little under the radar this season. If you look at his goal record and assist record over the course of the season, it is a brilliant return. He is a big, big player for us. That return of goals and assists is his best ever at the club already, with several games still to be played. If he can get up to 15/16 goals and beyond that then that is a brilliant return for a guy who doesn’t always plays as striker

“They have all been important for us and that kind of return is certainly what we need if we want to finish higher up the league.”