No happy ending for Easter Road’s romantic Swede
Hibs’ Melker Hallberg couldn’t come up with the perfect engagement present at Ibrox.
The Swede went to play against Rangers yesterday after popping the question on Christmas Day.
Although the romantic midfielder was disappointed that his team left Glasgow emptyhanded, he took pride in the performance.
He said: “I was happy after getting engaged to my girlfriend, Elsa, on Friday.
“We knew coming into the game that it would be one of the toughest of the season.
“In the end, it’s frustration that we feel. To play like we did, I think we deserved more.
“You have to bear in mind the quality of the team that we’re facing, but we performed well.
“We created some decent chances and should have scored.
“We’ re absolutely getting better all the time. This is a team that’s doing better with every game we play.
“We’ve been playing really good football this season.
“We know we’re not far behind the top two teams now and we can take a lot from our second- half performance.
“We felt there might have been a couple of claims for a penalty. Unfortunately, they weren’t awarded.”
Hibs’ boss Jack Ross was adamant that Hibs should have been awarded a spot-kick.
He said: “The second one, the challenge on Porteous, is a penalty.
“It was difficult for me to see at the time, I will be honest about that.
“But I’ve had the benefit of watching it again and it is clear- cut. It’s very obvious that it is a penalty.
“But we didn’t get it so we have to move on from it.
“Ultimately they scored a goal and we didn’t. That’s why we have lost the game.”
It’s not in Ross’ nature to take enjoyment from defeat but he felt compelled to praise the players.
He said: “We are trying to grow and foster a mentality at the club where we are not happy to lose matches.
“So we are disappointed we have not taken anything from the game. But it is a time for tempering that with pride in large parts of our performance.
“I thought we were excellent in how hard we pushed Rangers and how hard we made them work for their victory in a stadium where they have been relentless this season.
“Not many teams come and play two strikers at the top of the pitch and we did that.
“That’s why we were able to be a threat through the game.”