Stubbs out to put his critics in their place

ALAN STUBBS insists Hibs can silence the doubters by finishing the season with a flourish on two fronts. His team lost two goals in the final three minutes against 10-man Falkirk at Easter Road this week, the 2-2 draw leaving them with an uphill task to finish second in the Championship. Now they return to Hampden for tomorrow’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Dundee United, seeking to banish memories of losing to Ross County in the 90th minute of last month’s League Cup Final. This perceived tendency to throw away positive positions over a run of just two wins in 11 games has even led to the phrase ‘Hibsed it’ becoming part of social-media parlance. Manager Stubbs, however, knows the best way to respond would be by reaching another cup final and securing promotion via the play-offs. ‘You always want to try to prove people wrong,’ he admitted, when asked about accusations of fragility. ‘In every walk of

life you want to do that. ‘I can understand why things are being said but if we won the Scottish Cup my first thought wouldn’t be to go around all the doubters individually. I’d be in the crowd with everybody celebrating! ‘People have the right to say what they want or what they see, I can’t take it personally. ‘The best way to answer it is to do something about it. And then at the end of it when you have done it you don’t have to say anything, you can just look at that person and smile. I think that’s the best way to answer it.’ Asked if he was angered by the ‘Hibsed it’ phrase, Stubbs replied: ‘No, because that would mean people are getting to me. ‘I’m aware of it because people mention it, but the answer to that would be the same as the previous one. ‘There is always a lot of self-satisfaction when you do something when people doubt you. There is nothing better. So we’ll see what the next couple of games brings.’ Stubbs claimed he has not yet decided which of his untested options will replace Mark Oxley in goal against United. Oxley was banned following a bizarre booking — his second caution of the competition — for time-wasting in the quarter-final against Inverness when he lost a contact lens. Back-up Otso Virtanen replaced Oxley in the 88th minute of that game for his only appearance, while March signing Conrad Logan has yet to feature at all. ‘Will it be Otso? I have not really decided yet,’ said Stubbs. ‘Whoever it is going to be, whether it is Otso or whether it is Conrad, it will be down to what we feel is the right decision. ‘We spoke about the situation with Mark but it (the ban) was never going to be overturned. ‘It was just an unfortunate set of circumstances that led to the booking. ‘We’ve known about it for weeks now. And we’ve known it was going to be either Otso or Conrad who will play on Saturday. ‘In an ideal world they would have more game time but the only reason we haven’t done it is because our main priority is the league. ‘They could play on Saturday and have a fantastic game without even having had a game before. We’re hoping that’s going to happen, whichever one it is. In fact, I am hoping he is going to have a quiet game.’