Ross is reaping the rewards of improvement in defence

HIBERNIAN boss Jack Ross praised his rock-solid defence after a third consecutive victory — and celebrated as the club won their opening three top-flight games for the first time since 1974. Ross also admitted he is keeping his fingers crossed that the season isn’t suspended while his team are flying high after a dramatic last few days for Scottish football.

Speaking after a grinding 1-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice, he said of his team: ‘They’ve been terrific defensively over the course of the three games.

‘We haven’t conceded from open play yet. Chris Burke’s free-kick on the opening day was remarkable, and then it was a penalty for Livingston. ‘So, in open play, we’ve yet to concede and we have limited teams to few opportunities. ‘That is brilliant for us because we got a lot of criticism for our defending last year. ‘It’s still early but a lot of the work we’ve done is bearing fruit. They can take a lot of confidence from that. ‘What we had last season was an attacking threat. We scored goals. We were up there with the highest scorers in the league. But we were a little bit soft at times. So we needed to rectify that.

‘Alex Gogic has helped us, but so has having players with the ability to move between a back three and a back four. ‘That means we can be more open or more solid, depending on how the game is going.’

On the best start in 46 years, Ross laughed: ‘There are very few stats from before even I was born! It gives us a good platform to build on.’ The Hibs boss (right) said he didn’t give a second thought to the possibility of last night’s game being called off by an SPFL shutdown. And he added: ‘It’s enjoyable when you’re winning football matches. So hopefully they’ll stay sensible and the league will continue.

‘Undoubtedly, some individuals have made poor judgments. But a heck of a lot of people have done things properly.’ United boss Micky Mellon said of his team’s loss: ‘There was nothing in it, both teams lacked a cutting edge. ‘They got a break of the ball and it fell to a man in form and he managed to score. ‘We might have got a ricochet or something our way and it would have been a different game. But that’s football at this level.

‘I think he was offside but they go for you and don’t go for you. Those are the moments you hope, over the course of a season, iron out. ‘We have made the transition up, we have more than held our own against one of the top teams in the league. ‘We can be better, we know where we can improve and know we can be a force at this level. ‘It’s about consistency. We’ll be ready to go again by the weekend.’ Mellon said top striker Lawrence Shankland should be available for Saturday’s trip to play Ross County in Dingwall.