Hibs skipper Joelle can see things are turning around
Hibs captain Joelle Murray says her side’s slow start to the SWPL season is similar to that of the men under Lee Johnson.
Murray’s team play leaders Rangers at Meadowbank Stadium today in a game televised live by BBC Alba.
Hibs sit seventh in the table, and are already 11 points behind today’s opponents after only six games.
Until the pandemic, Glasgow City and Hibs were the top two teams in Scotland, cleaning up all the trophies between them from 2011 onwards.
Hibs beat Celtic 9-0 in the 2018 League Cup final – but when the teams met on the opening Sunday of this season the scoreline was reversed.
Rangers and Celtic went professional in 2020 and last season won all three trophies between them.
Central defender Murray didn’t start the Celtic game as she had a calf strain, but was forced to come off the bench to try to shore things up in the second half.
Hibs head coach Dean Gibson blamed new signings coming into the club late because of visa issues for the heavy defeat.
Since then the Edinburgh side have won two, lost two and drawn one in the league and Murray said: “Its been similar to Lee Johnson with the men.
“He predicted a slower start given the circumstances and I feel like we’re following the same pathway.
“We’ve now had everyone in for a couple of months and got a few games under our belt.
“The quality is there on the training pitch, it’s just about making sure we can bring out the potential I know we have as individuals and a collective group.”
Speaking about today’s challenge, Murray said: “Rangers are not the champions for no reason.
“It will be a tough and competitive game but you always want to challenge yourself against the best teams and players. At the moment Rangers are that team.
“The quality they have coming off the bench is just as good as they have on the pitch, so we need to respect that but also have a belief and confidence in our ability.”
Rangers had four players in the Scotland squad which blew the chance to qualify for the World Cup when they were beaten 1-0 by Ireland at Hampden on Tuesday.
“It was absolutely gutting – we’re all Scotland supporters,” head coach Malky Thomson said. “Qualifying would have put us on the map and given us more visibility.
“But by the time the players came back in on Friday they were totally focused on the Hibs game.”
Celtic, who are behind Rangers on goal difference, host bottom club Glasgow Women and the other side on maximum points, Glasgow City, are away to Hamilton Accies.