FINALLY, A SPOT OF GOOD FORTUNE FOR MALLAN

STEVIE MALLAN had waited eight long months for the chance to make a quick impact on the Hibs first team — and it wasn’t wasted when it finally arrived. Replacing Scott Allan for the final 24 minutes of Sunday’s trip to McDiarmid Park, Mallan seized the opportunity to slam home the stoppage-time penalty winner that moved the Easter Road club back level on points with Premiership leaders Rangers. It was a first appearance since Boxing Day last year for the 24-year-old midfielder. Dogged by a persistent knee issue, the impact of coronavirus on the game further slowed his recovery. ‘What stopped me was lockdown,’ reflected Mallan. ‘I came back from injury the week before, just before we stopped playing, then, during lockdown, I didn’t have the facilities to do my rehab. ‘So to finally get on the pitch after seven, eight months was a great feeling and to bag the winner is even better. ‘I thought I would get a chance. There was one five minutes earlier when I tried to pass it instead of shooting and heard everybody behind me shouting “shoot, shoot”. So I knew the next time I was going to go for it. ‘Thankfully, it led to the penalty and, with penalty-taker Kev Nisbet missing, as soon as I heard the whistle I went for the ball. I think I ran the full length of the pitch to get it so nobody else could take it.’ St Johnstone were the better side in the second half on Sunday, but Mallan feels nicking the win is a sign of a mindset shift at Hibs. ‘It’s massive for our belief because, in games like this last year, we were losing, or we drew,’ he added. ‘We lost a lot of late goals last year, so we’ve tried to nullify that and the chances up front will take care of themselves with the boys we’ve got at our disposal. ‘We had a sit-down at the start of the season and looked at the first six, seven games and said what points we wanted. ‘We’ve given ourselves a target for the first little part and thankfully we’re on track — in fact, we’re doing a lot better.’