Murray is confident cup specialists Hibs can bounce back

H i b e r n i a n c a p t a i n J o e l l e M u r r a y s a y s S u n d a y ’s 3 - 0 league loss to Celtic will not affect her side’s morale when they meet arch-rivals Glasgow City in the SWPL Cup final in Airdrie on Friday night, writes Alan Campbell.

Ne i t h e r c e n t r a l d e f e n d e r Murray, p ictured, nor vice - captain Rachael Small played in the Celtic defeat. B oth are exp ected to b e available for the holders in a game which could result in Hibs winning a seventh successive domestic knock-out trophy. While Small had a prior engagement connected to her impending marriage to Martin Boyle, Murray had to sit on the bench at K Park knowing she c o u l d n ’ t i n f l u e n c e what was happening on the pitch.

“I was up all night Saturday night with a bug and I felt terrible,” the Scotland player said. “There have been so many times in the past I’ve played through things like that and just made myself worse, so I spoke to Grant [Scott, the Hibs head coach] and we both decided that in the bigger picture playing wasn’t the best thing to do.

“U n f o r t u n a t e l y i t did come at a cost in t e r m s o f t h e r e s u l t and I did feel terrible after wards. I thought we would still have the qualit y on that pitch to b eat Celtic, but we were well below t h e s t a n d a r d s we h a v e s e t o u r s e l ve s a n d g o t wh a t we deserved.”

Hibs lost 2-1 to Glasgow City a f o r t n i g h t b e f o r e g o i n g o n to b eat them in last season’s S cottish Cup final and Murray says her team-mates will treat the Celtic defeat in exactly the same manner. “We had to pick ourselves up then, so we’ve been in this situation in the past,” she pointed out.

“We know we have to do better than what we showed on Sunday.”

City, who have won the last 12 Scottish titles, have lost their last six cup-ties against Hibs.