Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery praised Paul Hanlon after the experienced defender returned to help his side to a clean sheet in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Livingston.

Martin Boyle’s first-half goal put Hibs in front but they had to weather a storm in the second half as the hosts threw balls into the box.

Montgomery hailed Hanlon, who was making his first start since mid-October, and his centre-back partner Will Fish, who were both impressive in a tight match.

He said: “I thought the whole back four stood up really well. It was a real team performance.

“You can’t come to places like this and have passengers because you know you’re going to have to pick up those second balls and win those direct balls at the throw-ins, corners and free-kicks.

“They’ve got some real quality and some real height.

“Paul coming back into the team, I thought he was solid. Him and Will Fish. I thought he led the line really well and there was also big character from Will Fish too as he had a pretty big cut on his head and got stitched up at half-time and continued to head those balls.

“The wind was swirling around and it was really difficult conditions but it was important we stayed composed. We didn’t get dragged into a fight and I thought we played some really good stuff in the second half.”

The victory moved Hibs above Edinburgh rivals Hearts and into fourth, but Montgomery insisted he is only thinking about his own side as he praised their togetherness.

He added: “I don’t really concentrate on anyone else. I just concentrate on ourselves, but we know that if we win games of football, that’s going to lift us up the table.

“It’s important in a good team that you know the moments when you have to stick together and fight and get through situations that are a bit uncomfortable. I thought we did that.

“But the team also has quality. We’ve got a good team spirit and a good camaraderie and everyone has seen that. In the first week when I came in and I got to know the players, I could see that they all care for the club.”

Livingston boss David Martindale was frustrated that his side were not awarded a penalty after Kurtis Guthrie went down under a challenge from Joe Newell in the first half.

He said: “The disappointing one for me is there’s one in the first half where Kurtis Guthrie is fouled and Grant (Irvine) has not had the opportunity to go to the screen.

“We got told Kurtis initiated the contact but I’m not sure that’s my view on it. I’m a wee bit disappointed that Grant’s not had the opportunity to go and look at that.

“You’re then allowing VAR to decide and you’re not allowing the on-field referee to use the technology to decide. That’s what I want to happen in football. If there’s any dubiety at all.

“It’s all subjective but it shouldn’t be subjective to someone sitting in a sterile room who isn’t watching the game. So I’m a wee bit disappointed with that but I’m not making excuses.”

Inside Easter Road reminders are everywhere, including on the mouse mats, of what is expected at Hibernian.

Doing the small things, humility without an ego, and reinforcing a demanding but healthy culture sit alongside the desire to consistently qualify for Europe and close the gap on Celtic and Rangers.

On Wednesday, boss Nick Montgomery – three months into his reign – gets the chance to test their progress again.

Under chief executive Ben Kensell, Hibs’ internal mantra is to be the club which dares to do things differently. It is up to Montgomery to ensure it happens on the pitch ahead of the trip to Celtic.

“It’s very hard but you only have to look at Leicester in the Premier League, no-one really expected them to do that (winning in 2016),” the former Sheffield United midfielder tells the PA news agency.

“Every club in every league will see that as an inspirational story. Is it sustainable? No, it’s hard to be sustainable because look at where Leicester are now but that’s a one-off example.

“You can only try to achieve the best positions every season. It’s not easy to compete against the two giants of the division, but that’s something every team aspires to do.

“I’m not saying we can compete on any level with them financially, budget-wise that’s never going to happen.

“What we can do is make sure we have a team competitive enough to make sure we’re competing in every game.”

The long-term plans stem from Kensell, who has laid important foundations at Easter Road and was key in helping bring Montgomery to Edinburgh from Central Coast Mariners in September after Lee Johnson’s departure.

Former Reading manager Brian McDermott also joined as director of football in May.

Kensell was a driving force behind commercial and on pitch success at Norwich, as chief operating officer, before leaving in 2021. He helped oversee two promotions to the Premier League and guided them through the pandemic as part of the club’s executive committee.

Another of the 10 points at Easter Road which underline the demand on staff is “enjoy what you do, work hard, play hard and smile”. It is something which resonates with Montgomery and translates into what he is doing on the pitch.

“In the time I’ve been here we’ve had a lot of progress in terms of an identity on the pitch, off it we want people to enjoy it but also know it’s going to be hard work,” he says, from his office at the snow-covered training ground in Tranent.

“The first thing is getting to know people, what their strengths and weaknesses are and creating a team environment but one where everyone demands off each other.

“The boys are a tight-knit group, we have brought in a couple of speakers and sports psychologists to talk to them about bonding and how you can become stronger.

“That’s my job, to make sure that happens, to create an environment where everyone feels they can be themselves.”

Montgomery won Central Coast Mariners’ first A-League title in 10 years last season and has now been joined by wife Josie and daughters Eva, Chloe and Leah, who watched their first game, Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Aberdeen, after flying from Australia.

A third straight win left Hibs two points behind third-placed Hearts and Montgomery believes it is just the beginning.

“Everybody knows there are two massive teams in the league but you want to be up there challenging,” he said.

“We want to become a club with an identity, a club that develops players, one which can sell players to the biggest leagues in the world and reinvest back into the academy and the foundations.

“We want to keep growing the fanbase and the community and give everyone a club to be proud of.”

Nick Montgomery expressed “pride” in Jair Tavares over the way the Portuguese winger has seized his second chance at Hibernian after being frozen out under previous boss Lee Johnson.

The 22-year-old spoke this week of the “mental devastation” he endured over his lack of game time following his move to the cinch Premiership club from Benfica in the summer of 2022.

Tavares made just nine appearances for Johnson last term and featured only twice this calendar year – both times as a late sub – before the Englishman was sacked in late August.

However, the winger has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence since Montgomery’s appointment in September, featuring in nine of the current manager’s 11 games in charge and starting each of the last five.

“Jair is a great example of a young player moving to a club and things not going as planned,” said Montgomery. “No doubt he’s had some tough times but the first thing I said to him when I came in was ‘you have to forget the past, you can’t have a victim mentality because if you do, it’s really hard to pick yourself up’.

“I think he’s been growing week by week with his confidence and I’ve been really proud of Jair.

“I think now people are really starting to see the ability he has. He’s a real team player, he’s working his socks off, and he’s been outstanding ever since he came back into the team.

“He’s a great story for any player, young or old, who is thinking their career at a club is finished. A change of manager or whatever it may be, and all of a sudden you get an opportunity and you have to grab it with both hands. I think he’s done that.”

Tavares had not kicked a competitive ball this term before Montgomery put him on as a sub in his first game in charge away to Kilmarnock. Asked why he felt compelled to give the winger a chance, the manager said: “I came in with an open mind to see what the players did in training, knowing their situations before I came in but not having any bias over that.

“Jair’s effort in training has always been very good. I think it was clear at the start he was lacking a bit of confidence and belief and a clear instruction of what was needed from him in the team.

“But he’s really receptive, an intelligent footballer and a real hard worker, and I think you can see he’s getting better all the time.

“I think he’s got a lot more to come. He’s got a lot to improve on but when you don’t play for a long time, sometimes it takes a couple of games to get that game awareness and full confidence. Right now he’s on an upward trajectory and we all hope that continues.”

Hibs head to Dundee on Sunday looking to leapfrog their hosts and climb into the top six after an inconsistent start to the season. Asked about his plans for the January transfer window, Montgomery said: “We don’t know what’s going to happen. We are always on the lookout for potential future Hibs players, whether that’s in January or the summer.

“That’s something we monitor on a weekly basis. Right now, I’ve no idea what’s going to happen over December. We’ve got a couple of players coming back from injury and we’re hoping in January-February we’ll have a few more back in full training, Chris Cadden, Harry McKirdy and Jake Doyle-Hayes, so we have got players on the horizon coming back to full fitness.

“They will be like new signings if we can get them back on the park.”

Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery described Martin Boyle as a “special player” after the forward provided a superb assist for Josh Campbell to score the only goal of the game against Kilmarnock.

The Australia international, who also had an earlier effort ruled out for offside, sped forward with a forceful run from the centre-circle before teeing up his team-mate from close range.

Campbell’s effort after 36 minutes proved to be decisive as Hibs collected their first cinch Premiership victory in seven outings to move within a point of sixth-placed Killie.

Montgomery said: “Martin is a special player and we have to protect him. Coming off in the semi-final (against Aberdeen) he took a little knock.

“We can’t take risks on a player of Martin’s stature at the club and it was the right decision to leave him on the bench at St Mirren.

“It freshened him up and he has had a disallowed goal, possible penalty call and a couple at the end where he just lost his footing.

“Martin is a big player for us and it’s important that we don’t take risks when it’s not necessary.”

Montgomery admitted he was still reluctant to allow Boyle to join up with Australia after picking up a knee issue in last weekend’s Viaplay Cup semi-final defeat to Aberdeen.

He added: “I’m not the doctor but I will go down and have that conversation. If he’s fit, no problem, he’ll be raring to go with the Socceroos.

“If not, he’ll probably stay. Getting through 90 minutes probably tells you he’ll be desperate to go, and he’s a big player for them as well.

“If it was up to me, he’d stay and we’d rest him! But they’ve got good medical staff there and hopefully it’s two weeks of him recovering for a few days, and getting some minutes.”

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes admits Boyle’s moment of brilliance was the difference between the teams.

He said: “We should have done better in dealing with the initial move when Boyle got on the half turn.

“I saw when he was rested against St Mirren, I thought they should have let him run riot against Stevie’s (Robinson) team and left him on the bench against us.

“He’s the one that makes the difference and his part in the goal was decisive for them.

“The game was decided by a big moment with Boyle at the heart of it.

“But we are disappointed we didn’t manage to take anything from a game I felt we could have.

“We were just looking for those moments of quality.”

Josh Campbell scored the only goal of the game to see off St Johnstone and hand Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery his first Premiership victory in seven games.

The midfielder slotted home from close range after Martin Boyle did brilliantly to tee up his team-mate.

The result moves the Easter Road club to within a point of sixth place Kilmarnock in the cinch Premiership.

Kilmarnock played well in patches but their long wait for a win in Leith was stretched to 10 games.

In a bright start to the match Jair Tavares went close with a solo effort from outside the area after four minutes.

The Portuguese winger got away from Joe Wright with a neat bit of skill but his curling effort flew just past the top corner.

Hibs forward Boyle then had the ball in the net moments later but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Kilmarnock gave as good as they got during the early exchanges and Liam Donnelly should have done better with a half-volley at the back post that he fired over from a Daniel Armstrong corner.

At the other end, Boyle raced clear after Donnelly had a square pass cut out but the Australia international lost his footing in the box as he was chased down by Stuart Findlay.

But the hosts were not to be denied in the 36th minute as Boyle provided a great assist for Campbell.

The pacey forward spun away in a congested centre circle and rode a cynical challenge from Donnelly that earned the midfielder a retrospective booking.

Boyle then flicked a pass to Campbell inside the area and the midfielder placed a low drive past Will Dennis.

Kilmarnock brought on Matty Kennedy for Donnelly at the break as they looked to get a foothold in the game.

But the visitors struggled to create any meaningful opportunities in a second half that lacked entertainment at both ends.

Tavares went close for Hibs again with an effort from outside the box but Dennis did brilliantly to push the shot round the post for a corner.

With Hibs having surrendered winning positions in their last two league games, tensions grew among the home fans as the match approached the closing stages.

Campbell was denied a second goal in the 86th minute when his stinging drive from outside the box was repelled by Dennis.

Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall then made a save at his near post to keep out Rory McKenzie.

Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery admitted he was frustrated at his side’s failure to close out victory at St Mirren.

Hibs looked set for a first win in seven games only to concede a stoppage-time equaliser to Lewis Jamieson to draw 2-2.

Goals from Josh Campbell and Joe Newell – either side of Mark O’Hara’s penalty – had Hibs in control before Jamieson struck with his first ever St Mirren goal.

Montgomery said: “It’s another game we could have got three points out of, but we only have ourselves to blame.

“We can talk about managing the game and finishing it off and I thought we had plenty of chances to do that even in the first half. We were outstanding.

“But the equaliser is of our own doing. There’s a minute to go and we just need to see the game out.

“We had a breakaway and we somehow turn the ball over and the next thing it’s in the back of the net.

“It’s another game where we have led away from home, and it might be a good point come the end of the season but right now it’s a difficult one to take.”

Montgomery felt that St Mirren defender Richard Taylor had dived for the penalty that was converted by O’Hara.

He added: “I’m not here to talk about refereeing or VAR, but if that’s a penalty there are going to be 10 penalties in every game. I’m a little bit frustrated by that one as well.

“Look, the ball wasn’t even going in that area. I’ve watched it and the lad has got in front of Jordan Obita – but he’s six-foot-five and he’s just dropped to the floor with no contact.

“If players want to just throw themselves on the floor and they’re going to go and look at VAR, there are going to be a lot of stoppages.”

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson admitted his team had been defensively sloppy but felt they had created enough chances to win the match.

He said: “I thought it was a point we thoroughly deserved. We weren’t as defensively good as we could have been but our forward play and some of our movement and deliveries were excellent.

“I thought we were calm, we kept the ball, and we moved it well and got balls into the box. We should have been level before we were, we could have potentially been going for a winning goal.

“It wasn’t to be, but overall I think it’s one of our best performances this season, the way we played, the way we battled, the response we showed to adversity was excellent. I’m actually disappointed that we didn’t win the game.”

Nick Montgomery has challenged Hibernian to take a big step towards more cup glory by eliminating Aberdeen in Saturday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final.

The Hibees last won a trophy in 2016 when they claimed the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years, while they last got their hands on the League Cup in 2007.

Current left-back Lewis Stevenson, 35, was involved in both of those triumphs while club captain Paul Hanlon, 33, played in the most recent one.

Both players are in contention to start against the Dons this weekend as the Hibees bid to set up a final showdown with city rivals Hearts or Rangers.

“There’s a lot of history at the club,” said Montgomery. “The past is the past but there are some great memories there.

“Now there is an opportunity for some of the players who have been there before to try and get to that moment again and for some of the players who have never been there to try and get to that moment.

“Any time you get to a cup final, it’s something to look back on in your career. Right now it’s 90 minutes plus extra time or whatever it is, and we’ll give everything we’ve got to try and make sure we get to the final.”

Montgomery, who was appointed Hibs boss in September, is looking forward to leading his team to Hampden less than two months after his first trip to the national stadium.

“I’ve never played or managed there,” he said. “The first time I visited was the Scotland v England game when I first arrived here in Scotland.

“I’m really looking forward to leading the team out tomorrow. It’s a special occasion at a special stadium and I’m looking forward to seeing plenty of our fans there in full voice.”

Hibs have drawn five of their seven league matches under Montgomery, with one win and one defeat.

“We’ve had a couple of draws that I feel we played well enough to win in and we’ve let a two-goal lead slip twice so it’s something we have to fix because getting into the lead is not easy,” he said.

“We have to be more resilient in terms of holding on to those leads. I think we’ve played some good football but there’s plenty improvement to make, especially in terms of concentration.

“You have to concentrate for the full game, especially defensively, like we did against Celtic (when drawing 0-0 last weekend). We have to make sure we do that every game because we know we’ve got goals in the team.

“For me, it’s been eight weeks of learning about the team, the players, the individuals and myself, and I think we’re close to being a good team. What we have to do now is turn those draws into wins but that’s all out the window this weekend because there can’t be a draw.”

Jair Tavares scored his first goal for Hibernian but it was not enough to secure victory as Ross County fought back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw in a dramatic cinch Premiership match at Easter Road.

The 22-year-old Portuguese winger has enjoyed a new lease of life under recently-installed manager Nick Montgomery and he appeared to have the Hibees on course for a win that would have lifted them into the top half of the table when he added to Elie Youan’s deflected first-half strike.

But an own goal from Allan Delferriere and a superb finish by substitute Jordan White in the closing 20 minutes earned County a third successive away draw.

Hibs boss Montgomery made four changes to the side that started Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Celtic. Goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott came in for his first league appearance, with David Marshall dropping to the bench, while Jordan Obita, Joe Newell and Martin Boyle made way for Lewis Stevenson, Dylan Levitt and Adam Le Fondre.

County made two alterations to the team that drew 3-3 at Motherwell last weekend as Ben Purrington and Kyle Turner replaced George Harmon and Yan Dhanda.

Hibs threatened in the 11th minute when Youan got in behind and crossed from the right, forcing James Brown to clear over his own crossbar as Dylan Vente raced in to try and connect on the edge of the six-yard box.

Another County defender had to make an important intervention 11 minutes later when Ryan Leak blocked Tavares’ shot from a Youan cutback after an excellent build-up down the right.

The Staggies almost took the lead with their first notable foray into the Hibs box in the 25th minute when Turner flashed a ferocious angled shot just beyond the far post after Simon Murray laid Brown’s pass off into his path.

At the other end, Le Fondre saw a powerful low shot from the edge of the box run agonisingly wide of Ross Laidlaw’s left-hand post.

Hibs made the breakthrough in the 42nd minute when Youan’s shot from just outside the box deflected off Purrington and eluded Laidlaw.

And the hosts looked to be well on their way to securing the three points eight minutes into the second half when Tavares received a pass from Levitt and drove forward before sending a firm right-footed shot beyond Laidlaw from the edge of the box.

The goal was allowed to stand following a VAR check for offside, much to the delight of the former Benfica winger whose Hibs career appeared to have petered out following a difficult first season in Scotland.

Staring down the barrel of defeat, County found some resistance in the closing stages. They pulled one back in the 74th minute when Hibs substitute Delferriere inadvertently turned the ball into his own net after Wollacott failed to deal with a cross from substitute Dhanda.

And the Staggies left the home support exasperated in the 82nd minute when White spun in the box and fired high into the net after excellent work by Murray on the right to set him up.

Hibernian head coach Nick Montgomery hailed Elie Youan for his reaction to a half-time warning after the winger netted two goals in 83 seconds to earn his side an Edinburgh derby point against Hearts at Tynecastle.

Montgomery was unhappy with his side’s first-half efforts as they trailed to Alan Forrest’s spectacular strike before Christian Doidge’s 58th-minute own goal put Hearts two ahead.

But Youan struck twice in quick succession midway through the second half after combining with Dylan Vente and both teams collected a cinch Premiership point after a thrilling finale.

Montgomery said: “Elie’s a fantastic player, he could play at the highest level no doubt, but he needs to be more consistent and he knows that.

“I told him at half-time we needed more from him because he’s a player that can win you a game of football.

“There were too many who weren’t good enough in the first half and Elie was definitely one of them but when I asked him to step up he certainly did.

“He gets two goals and we need that from him for 90 minutes, not for 45. If only the game was 45 minutes he would probably be playing in the Champions League.

“But that’s something Elie has to fix, he’s a young player with bags of ability. That’s normal, sometimes it takes young players a couple of years to get that consistency but there’s no doubting his ability. He is a fantastic player and a good lad and second half he reacted really well.”

Montgomery labelled the 2-2 draw “definitely a good outcome in the end”.

“They were a lot better than us in the first half and I thought second half we were the better team,” he said.

“I’m very disappointed in the first half and the way we played and I told the boys at half-time it wasn’t good enough.

“We talked about the emotion of the game during the week and a few too many got caught up with the emotion and they dealt with it better.

“I told them second half they had to go out there and fix it and they did.”

Hearts head coach Steven Naismith bemoaned the 90-second spell which cost his team what he felt would have been a deserved win.

“We put so much into the game and for large parts it was a really good performance,” he said.

“We carried a threat, the chances we had were really good, scored two good goals, and the biggest disappointment is we have given up two goals in the space of a minute-and-a-half that has ultimately cost us three points in what would have been a very good performance.

“I think over time we will look at the performance and be positive but decision-making when it goes 2-1, you can question, and ultimately our defending has cost us.”

Naismith felt the impressive Alex Lowry was tiring as he explained his decision to take the midfielder off in the 62nd minute and replace him with the more defensive-minded Beni Baningime.

Naismith added: “The game was getting a bit more stretched, we weren’t keeping the ball when we should be, because they were committing more bodies forward and it started getting end to end. We didn’t want to lose control of it.

“But ultimately it’s a minute-and-a-half of poor decision-making and defending that has cost us.”

Elie Youan hit two goals in 83 seconds as Hibernian came from behind to seal a 2-2 Edinburgh derby draw at Tynecastle.

Hearts looked firmly in control after a spectacular strike from Alan Forrest and Christian Doidge’s own goal had them two ahead.

But Youan scored with Hibernian’s first two efforts on target midway through the second half ahead of a thrilling finale when both teams went for a winner.

The comeback maintained Nick Montgomery’s unbeaten record as Hibs head coach after five games in Scotland and prevented Steven Naismith’s side from moving ahead of Rangers into third place in the cinch Premiership.

Naismith promoted Forrest and Alex Lowry to his starting line-up, along with the fit-again Cammy Devlin, after the pair came off the bench to fashion the winner against Ross County the previous weekend.

Montgomery started with a positive formation as Doidge partnered Dylan Vente up front with wingers Martin Boyle and Youan outside them. But the attacking line-up did not translate into territory for the bulk of the first half.

Heavy overnight rain had created perfect conditions for slide tackles and referee Willie Collum was busy in the opening 15 minutes, booking Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland and Devlin plus Hibs defender Will Fish.

Lowry made a lively start, curling a left-footed shot off a post from 20 yards and forcing two saves from David Marshall while generally picking out team-mates with clever passes in the final third.

Marshall also denied Shankland before being beaten by a piece of brilliance from Forrest, who had seen plenty of the ball in the opening stages.

The former Ayr and Livingston player collected the ball on the right wing, cut inside, and unleashed a powerful left-footed strike which curled just inside the top corner in the 28th minute.

Hibs took a while to settle after the goal but they did have some pressure late in the half without threatening Zander Clark.

Hearts’ defensive efforts came at a cost when Stephen Kingsley injured himself cutting out a cross. After trying to play on, the left-back was carried off on a stretcher.

The injury blow sparked a reshuffle as Odel Offiah came on at right-back and the rest of the back four moved one space left with Kye Rowles filling Kingsley’s position.

Hearts doubled their lead in the 58th minute when Lowry passed the ball into the goalmouth following his own half-cleared corner and Doidge sliced his attempted clearance behind him and into the corner of the net.

Hibs had several shots blocked in the immediate aftermath of the own goal and they finally got through in the 66th minute when Vente’s first-time pass teed up Youan to fire high into the net from 14 yards.

The same combination soon reaped rewards again as Youan drilled home the Dutch striker’s lay-off from similar range.

Hibs lost Marshall to injury with Max Boruc coming on and the Pole was immediately under pressure. Shankland curled just over after a mazy run and Rowles’ shot took a deflection and hit the bar.

The visitors had chances to seal an unlikely three points but Youan’s low cross was just too far in front of Boyle and Clark stopped Joe Newell’s strike.

Hearts got back on top and substitute Beni Baningime came closest to a last-gasp winner.

Hibernian boss Nick Montgomery insists he can still take positives from the goalless draw with Dundee, despite the frustration of wasting a host of opportunities to seal a third straight victory.

The Easter Road outfit found their visitors a tough nut to crack but only had themselves to blame at times for their profligacy.

However, with the result ensuring he goes into next weekend’s Edinburgh derby with Hearts unbeaten since taking over from Lee Johnson, Montgomery was still satisfied with much of his team’s display.

He said: “We are definitely frustrated, I thought we did more than enough to win the game.

“The stats don’t win you a game of football, but 23 shots, and I think we had 10 on target to their two, so it’s definitely frustrating.

“But we’ll take the positives – another clean sheet, a good performance from everybody, with the boys who came in after a big week.

“I can’t fault the boys’ effort. The effort was there, the attitude was there and I thought we played some great stuff. Just a bit of luck at the end we needed, but we move on.

“I would not say it was a bad day at the office. I think there was a lot of positives to take from the game, but of course the boys are frustrated.

“I have to give credit to their goalkeeper, I thought his positioning was really good.

“We attacked a couple of set-pieces and we needed one of those to deflect or bounce off the turf and go in, but he seemed to smother everything.

“You’re going to be disappointed when you create that many chances without winning. On another day, we could have scored a couple of goals.

“It wasn’t to be. But we move on to a big game next week.”

Dundee manager Tony Docherty claimed his side were close to a “complete performance” after threatening to steal victory at the death.

The proud Dens Park boss was full of praise for the way his players implemented his tactics.

He said: “It would have been the complete performance if we had scored from the counter-attack at the end.

“If it goes either side of big Marsh (Hibs keeper David Marshall) I think it’s a goal.

“That would have capped off an absolutely fantastic performance.

“But I couldn’t be any more proud of the players. I think we’re really growing as a team.

“They executed that game plan to the letter. We carried a threat, we were organised.

“You need to remember we only had four players out there who had played at Easter Road.

“So to show that level of experience and maturity was really pleasing.

“Hibs are a very good side. I came and watched them in midweek and they have a really good style of play.

“So I suppose there is an element of disappointment, but I am delighted to come away with a point.”

Manager Nick Montgomery praised the character of his players after Hibernian came from behind to defeat St Mirren 4-2 and land a Viaplay Cup semi-final tie against Aberdeen.

Two late goals from Martin Boyle settled a compelling quarter-final that flowed from end to end.

The Paisley side had taken the lead through Scott Tanser, fell behind to quickfire second-half strikes from Elie Youan and Dylan Vente before Keanu Baccus made it 2-2.

Boyle’s double continued Montgomery’s positive start to life at Easter Road and he now has his first working trip to Hampden to look forward to.

He said: “It’s all about getting through to a semi-final at Hampden so I’m really proud of everyone involved.

“I was at Scotland versus England a couple of weeks ago and thought the atmosphere was amazing – apart from the boos!

“But I never went there as a player or coach, so I’m really looking forward to that.

“The boys thoroughly deserved it, so I’m really proud of their effort.

“I thought it was a really good game of football, a good cup tie under the lights.

“I saw great character from the boys and I thought we deserved to win the game.

“We created more than enough chances to win two games. But fair play to St Mirren, they came as the form team in the league.

“They’ve had a fantastic start to the season but we saw that as an opportunity to put an end to that run. I’m really proud of the boys’ effort because it has been a big couple of weeks.

“I thought that performance epitomised everything in terms of team spirit. And in the second half we played some great stuff.”

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson felt it was a chance missed for his team, who lost for the first time in 11 games.

He said: “It’s an opportunity missed. We were superb in the first half. We had total control of the game and it should have been 2-0.

“But then it was as if we went ‘that was really good, let’s not do that again’ for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Ultimately, we conceded goals that we don’t concede.

“If you lose four goals you’re going to lose football matches. But I can’t be too hard on the players because they showed good fighting spirit and quality.

“Individual errors and bad decision making have cost us. We didn’t deserve to go through but we won’t feel sorry for ourselves. We will reset and come out fighting again on Saturday.”

Hibernian have appointed Nick Montgomery as their new head coach.

The former Sheffield United defender arrives from Central Coast Mariners, who he led to the A-League title last season.

The Leeds-born former Scotland Under-21 international has signed a three-year contract.

The 41-year-old was on a shortlist of five contenders but he was the only name to emerge publicly during the recruitment process.

Hibs director of football Brian McDermott said: “I’ve followed Nick’s career for a number of years. As a player, he was a leader and he’s brought that quality into his managerial and coaching career. What he’s done as a coach is really impressive.

“He helped rebuild what is now a successful academy and did a magnificent job of bringing through and developing young players. Alongside this, he has incredibly strong coaching credentials.

“He has a real strong, distinctive style of play, is a front-foot manager, and what he achieved at Central Coast Mariners last season was phenomenal.

“He created a strong relationship and camaraderie between the supporters, players and staff, and he’s an excellent man manager which has seen him get the best out of the players he’s worked with.

“Everyone has bought into him as a person and as a coach. We look forward to working with him and bringing successful times to this fantastic football club.”

Montgomery will bring assistant manager Sergio Raimundo and goalkeeping coach Miguel de Oliveira Miranda with him to work alongside existing first-team coach David Gray.

Gray led Hibs to a 2-0 win at Aberdeen in his sole cinch Premiership game as caretaker manager after Lee Johnson paid the price for losing the first three league games of the season.

Johnson was appointed Fleetwood manager on Sunday, replacing former Hibs midfielder Scott Brown.