Marciano puts the dark days of self-doubt behind him
Hibernian goalkeeper Ofir Marciano questioned whether he was willing to tolerate the torment of a long-term injury after being sidelined for much of the first half of the season.
However, the Israeli international’s return to the side, aligned with a sustained charge under new head coach Paul Heckingbottom, has ensured the dark days of being stuck in the treatment room have given way to personal and collective optimism.
The 29-year-old underwent an operation to mend a broken finger, which he had been managing since February 2018, last summer.
But after returning to the side in December, Marciano then sustained a knee injury only 14 minutes into his third match back at Rangers. That setback only kept him out for three matches and Marciano has played in every league game since the turn of the year, including the five wins from six matches achieved under Heckingbottom.
The former Ashdod player, however, admits his hugely frustrating spell out pushed his patience to the limit.
He said: “You always ask yourself when you’re injured if it’s worth it when you’re coming from a different country and everything. I’d be turning up here, training every day trying to get as fit as I can. It’s not a pleasant time but one that you need to face and get through. At the end of the day that’s why I’m here, to play.
“I’m happy now that I’m playing
0 Now rejuvenated, Hibernian keeper Ofir Marciano admits that a long absence through injury pushed his patience to the limit. and playing well. I appreciate it and don’t take it for granted. I try to keep myself fit and in the best form that I can.
“It’s been a really weird season for me because before I didn’t really get injured but now I’ve had two injuries this year.
“Thank God I’m fit now and this is the only thing that I’m focusing on. I really appreciate the place that I’m in now.
“The most important thing is to stay healthy, work hard and take it because this is a privilege, to play football.”
Marcianohasbenefitedfrom Adam Bogdan’s absence from the side after the on-loan Liverpool goalkeeper was left sidelined from concussion sustained in the Scottish Cup win over Elgin City in January.
The Hungarian international has returned to training and Marciano admits Bogdan’s availability can only be good for the team.
He added: “He did really well for us. As goalies we always set high standards and me and him try to set higher standards to each other. Both of us did well this year and
I’m happy for that. Hopefully it keeps going.
“He had a concussion but now he’s okay and back training. I’m happy for him because it was a bad one, but he’s fine now and that’s the most important thing.”
Meanwhile, Chris Burke says the decision to sign his new one-year deal with Kilmarnock was the easiest he has made.
The 35-year-old attacker, pictured, who joined Killie from Ross County in summer 2017, was due to be out of contract this summer but has impressed as Steve Clarke’s side have moved up to third in the table.
The former Rangers, Cardiff and Birmingham player is “delighted” to extend his time in Ayrshire.
“I said before I am happy to be here and be part of this time for Kilmarnock,” he said. “It was probably the easiest contract I have signed in my whole time as a footballer. It definitely feels like the perfect fit to me.”
Burke, capped seven times for Scotland, says a good pre-season has underpinned his performances in this campaign.
He said: “The first season I signed here I didn’t feel I was an asset as much as I would have liked to have been. It was difficult to get in. The team were doing very well, they finished fifth, so there was no reason why I should be playing because the people in front of me were doing ever so well.
“But when I signed again [last summer], the manager said it would be level pegging in preseason and that I just needed to show what I had to offer and he still believed I could offer something.
“I knew that if I got myself to the same fitness levels as everybody else then I would have a really good chance of playing. In my position, you have to be super fit. Wide players these days have to defend as well as attack and you have to play midfield as well.
“You need good fitness levels and I knew that once I got that base, there was no looking back.” Hamilton goalkeeper Gary Woods has apologised to Accies fans after their “unacceptable” hammering by Kilmarnock.
Woods labelled Saturday’s 5-0 defeat at Rugby Park as their worst performance since he joined the club in 2016.
The defeat left Brian Rice’s side only four points ahead of second-bottom St Mirren and Woods is looking to make amends at Livingston tonight.
He said: “I think that’s the worst one for us since I have been here. We never turned up, we were never in the game at any point. I don’t even think we had a shot on target which is not us, since this new manager has come in.
“We have usually been in games, we have battled, if we got beat we got beat because the other team was better. But we weren’t involved in the game.
“Our fans pay a lot of money to come and watch and that is unacceptable for them to be watching that, in such a crucial part of the season when we are fighting for our lives down at the bottom.
“I apologise to the fans for our performance, it wasn’t good enough but hopefully we are going to put that right on Wednesday.”
Gary Holt says his Livingston side will complete an unbelievable achievement if they defeat Hamilton to assure their Premiership status for next season.
Tipped as relegation favourites prior to the campaign, the Lions have continually upset the odds and have never looked in danger of being dragged into a dogfight.
Victory tonight would break the 40-point barrier and Holt is adamant securing safety so early would be a staggering achievement.
He beamed: “Not only could we be safe, but we could be on 41 points. To do what we’ve done has been tremendous.
“That is unbelievable – a massive achievement for a promoted club. And it’s not like we are a yo-yo club, Livingston haven’t been at this level since 2006.”