Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery was thrilled to get off to a winning start in his home dugout debut as his team overcame St Johnstone 2-0 at Easter Road.
Goals either side of the break from Lewis Miller and Dylan Vente sealed a well deserved victory and lifted the Leith side into sixth in the cinch Premiership.
It was also a memorable day for Rory Whitaker as the Hibs right back became the club’s youngest player at 16 years and 44 days when he climbed off the bench in the second half.
Montgomery said: “The fans were amazing, they gave me a really good reception before the game.
“And the energy they created in the second half resulted in a lot of opportunities.
“We know the pace we have up front and teams are going to come and work hard against us and that’s what happened.
“But as the game got stretched we created a lot of opportunities on the counter attack.”
Montgomery insists Whittaker’s breakthrough illustrates that age will not be a barrier to first-team opportunities under his watch.
He added: “Today was an opportunity to show there’s a pathway into the first team and Rory more than deserved his chance.
“I saw him play against Rangers last week and was very impressed with him.
“And when he trained with the first team his attitude was spot on.
“He’s a local boy, he’s been in the academy a long time and there is no better feeling than giving a young lad like him his debut.”
Hibs created several half chances in the first half before Miller headed in a Joe Newell cross at the back post.
After Elie Youan wasted another good opportunity, Vente doubled Hibs’ lead with a finish from close range after being teed up by Adam Le Fondre.
St Johnstone remain rooted to the bottom of the Premiership and manager Steven MacLean was not happy with his team’s defending for both goals.
He said: “The goals we are conceding just now are poor. The first Hibs goal comes from a second phase set-play and someone just doesn’t do their job at the back post so it’s poor from us.
“We were well in the game, we were frustrating them and we could have done better. We had a lot of opportunities in the transition and it was just the final pass, that final ball or the final run which cost us.
“The second goal was also a very poor goal to lose as we had bodies around about it but we didn’t have enough pressure on the ball and they played a ball around the corner and we got done.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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