Quaner won’t take diving accusation lying down after win Newell couldn’t turn down another shot at Europe with Hibs
Striker keen to make up for lost time after injury and help Saints to top-six finish
OOOH, aaah, Jamie McGrath. The midfielder’s 10th goal of the season gave St Mirren something to sing about with his late penalty taking the Paisley side within touching distance of a top-six finish for the first time with a 1-0 victory over Ross County.
McGrath was calm as he dispatched the spot-kick after County’s Leo Hjelde, the 17-year-old on-loan Celtic defender, was judged to have clipped St Mirren substitute Collin Quaner from behind.
It was a soft decision – the kind that irked Saints manager Jim Goodwin recently and did likewise for Ross County manager John
Hughes on Saturday – but it will matter little to a St Mirren side who ended their five-game sequence of draws.
The Paisley side are now four points clear of seventh-placed Dundee United although St Johnstone could still nick it with the games in hand. One more win would secure it but with Goodwin’s side up next at Ibrox they may face an anxious wait to have it confirmed.
In any case, Quaner fancies having a say in matters between now and the end of the season. The 29-year-old striker lasted just 19 minutes of his debut for the Paisley side before suffering ligament damage last month but his return to the fray was equally notable.
As he drove into the box he went to ground easily under a challenge from Hjelde, but was insistent afterwards that he was not guilty of taking a dive.
“We had the same situation in recent weeks and it’s never nice to lose a game because of a penalty,” he said. “It’s not my job to make the decision if it was a penalty, but obviously I’m quite positive going into the box and then there was definitely a contact. “Then it’s up to the referee to make the decision. But it was definitely not a dive. “For me it was unfortunate to get injured so early, but now I’m happy to be back and first of all the team’s main goal of getting to the top six is most important.”
Ross County defender Hjelde inevitably had a different take on the matter.
“I haven’t seen it back yet, but in the moment I felt it was a simulation,” he said. “I felt that I didn’t even touch him.” While the teenager is focused on Ross County’s relegation fight between now
JOE NEWELL admits the draw of Europe was persuasive in his decision to prolong his stay at Easter Road for another two years.
Despite falling to defeat against Motherwell on Saturday, Hibs are odds on to finish the season best of the rest in third which would allow them a shot on the continent.
Newell was originally brought to the club by Paul Heckingbottom and deployed on the left flank. But it has been since Jack Ross began to field the former Rotherham man centrally that Hibs supporters have started to see the best of him. Which is why the news of a contract extension until 2023 was met with such delight from the Easter Road fan base.
“The gaffer, Graeme [Mathie, Hibs’ sporting director] and the club have been great with me throughout the whole process; there was never any rush on either side,” Newell said of the deal.
“I said to them from the very start I’d be more than happy to stay, and they were good with me and sometimes these things just take time, but I don’t think there was any ever doubt on both parts that I was going to stay.”
With a third-place finish in Hibs’ own hands heading into the final months of the season, their 2-0 defeat to Motherwell on Saturday was a real disappointment.
Hibs do still hold the aces over their nearest challengers, Aberdeen, who are four points behind having played a game more.
“There’s not many other clubs you can go to get European football,” Newell said. “That’s the aim we set at the start of the season to finish in the European places. We know it’s not done yet; we need to maintain our standards and hopefully we will get there.
“That was obviously a big part of [staying at the club]. It’s a huge club in a brilliant city. Obviously it hasn’t been ideal the fact that there has been no fans here this season
which has obviously killed my short stay a little bit.
“I want to experience the wins under the lights on European nights in front of a full house and all that comes with it. That is something that I’m massively looking forward too. The sooner that can happen the better.”
For Hibs to dream of European wins they will need to perform better than they did against Graham Alexander’s Motherwell. Goals from Jordan Roberts and Devante Cole gave the Lanarkshire side a much-needed win as they bid to remain out of the relegation discussion.
Roberts, on loan from Hearts, benefited from an inch-perfect Tony Watt through-ball to race through on goal in the first half and finish through the legs of Ofir Marciano.
He turned provider almost immediately after the re-start, picking up a loose ball in the opposition half before slipping the ball through to Cole who opened his body up and found the bottom corner.
Liam Kelly had one big save to make from Christian Doidge late on in the second period but that aside, Motherwell’s three points never looked in danger.
The result, and perhaps more importantly the performance, calms the conversation of relegation. Cole hopes his side can begin to look upwards rather than peering over their shoulder after the win in the capital.
“With the boys we have in the team we shouldn’t be where we are. If we are playing well then I don’t expect us to be [there],” he said.
“Yes, there have been a couple of games like against St Johnstone where we haven’t quite been at it, but the last couple of games we are back on track, so we need to keep producing performances like here today.”