Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery has no worries about fielding Australia pair Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller against Celtic on Wednesday – less than a week after their Asian Cup disappointment.
Attacker Boyle started last Friday’s agonising 2-1 quarter-final defeat by South Korea in Qatar while right-back Miller came on as a substitute while his side led 1-0, conceded a stoppage-time penalty and then also gave away the free-kick that led to their opponents’ extra-time winner.
While city rivals Hearts have allowed Australian pair Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles the rest of this week off to recover, Hibs will pitch their Socceroos duo straight back into action at home to the cinch Premiership leaders as they bid to bounce back from Saturday’s humiliating 3-0 defeat by St Mirren.
“If you know anything about Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller, you’ll know they just want to get back playing football,” Montgomery said on Tuesday.
“Martin has scored his first goal at a major tournament, he’s been away for six weeks, so you want someone like him back in the team.
“Lewis has been a starting player who has had a real quick acceleration in the international team.
“When I came here, he wasn’t in the Hibs team, he became a regular and got himself into the international set-up. A lot has happened to him in the space of six months.”
Miller, 23, has been criticised in his homeland for his part in Australia being eliminated from the tournament.
“It was a really difficult moment for Lewis,” said Montgomery. “Anybody who knows the game knows that, in big moments, players can make mistakes.
“Lewis is a great kid, he has confidence, but that’s going to affect anybody. The most important thing is that we’ve given him our support since he came back.
“I’ve spent time talking to Lewis and putting my arm around him because he really has to move forward now. Nobody is more disappointed than Lewis with what happened, but he’s back here now with the boys who love him and support him.”
Montgomery has also been the subject of criticism in recent days following Hibs’ biggest home defeat by the Buddies since 1985. The Edinburgh club have taken just two points from their last six league matches.
“I understand the expectations of the club and the fans,” he said. “I understand the frustration of the fans because no one was more frustrated with the result than me.
“Pressure comes with any job, especially at a club like Hibs. I accepted the challenge when I took the job knowing there would be a rebuild going on, but change takes a bit of time. It’s not easy, and we’re in a bit of transition.
“I know where the club is heading in the big picture, but right now I understand the need to get a bit of form back.”
Toronto FC v FC Dallas: Estevez wants cool heads from visitors
Nico Estevez says FC Dallas must put their trust in a long-term process as the Western Conference strugglers prepare to visit high-flying Toronto FC on Saturday.
Dallas sit 13th in the West with just two wins from nine matches this year, though they snapped a seven-game winless run by beating the Houston Dynamo 2-0 last week.
Just as Estevez refused to be too critical of his players during their poor run of form, he will avoid getting too high off the back of a single victory.
"As we always say, we're never too high and never too low. It's about taking the positive things that we did against Houston to carry through the week, having the same mentality," Estevez said.
"Also, with some of the things that we didn't do well, we'll keep improving on those.
"As we always say, it is a process and we're trying to keep growing throughout the season, while getting results."
Toronto, meanwhile, sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with 16 points from their first 10 MLS games under John Herdman.
They scored two late goals to overturn a 1-0 deficit and clinch a third straight victory against Orlando City last time out, leaving Herdman to credit his players for their resilience.
"We showed a good mentality to set the tone on how we wanted to approach it," he said.
"I thought the guys were brave from the front and stamped their physical dominance on the game. To see the shift they put in was exceptional. It was a complete performance."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Toronto FC – Prince Osei Owusu
Owusu has scored five goals for Toronto in MLS this year, his latest being a 90th-minute winner against Orlando last week. He has had 15 shots overall in 2024, converting 33.33 per cent of those.
FC Dallas – Petar Musa
Musa has scored in each of Dallas' last two matches, against the Colorado Rapids and Houston.
He has scored (three goals) or assisted (one) four of his team's seven MLS goals since the beginning of March, demonstrating his importance.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Toronto won their first-ever meeting with Dallas 4-0 in June 2007, but Dallas have only lost one of 18 subsequent regular-season meetings (11 wins, six draws).
Dallas, though, are winless in their last 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents across all competitions (five draws, six losses), dating back to a 1-0 win over Inter Miami last April.
Toronto have more league wins this season (five) than they managed through the entirety of 2023 (four), but Dallas have only lost one of their last four. A draw could be on the cards in Canada.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Toronto FC – 34.8%
FC Dallas – 35.6%
Draw – 29.6%
Saudi Pro League: Mahrez and Firmino on target as Al-Ahli tighten grip on third place
Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino were both on target as Al-Ahli tightened their grip on third place in the Saudi Pro League table with a 4-1 win over Damac on Thursday.
Matthias Jaissle's team were four goals up within just 25 minutes as Damac folded, Ziyad Al Johani and Feras Al Brikan netting their first two before Franck Kessie was felled by Dhari Al Anazi for a penalty, converted by Mahrez.
Firmino then tapped home a fourth after being teed up by former Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin on the break, but Al-Ahli took their foot off the gas from there, Domagoj Antolic's second-half consolation rounding off the scoring.
Elsewhere, 10-man Al-Riyadh scored two stoppage-time draws to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw with Al-Fateh in Al-Mubarraz.
Goals from Djaniny and former Columbus Crew star Lucas Zelarayan put Slaven Bilic's hosts on the brink of victory, with Al-Riyadh playing almost half the game a player down after Khalid Al Shuwayyi's 54th-minute red card.
An astonishing collapse denied them, however, with Mohammed Al Shwirekh halving the arrears one minute into stoppage time before Didier Ndong headed in a left-wing cross three minutes later.
Thursday's other game saw Al-Hazm and Al-Akhdoud play out a goalless draw, keeping the hosts bottom of the table while Al-Akhdoud inched two points clear of the relegation zone.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
