Hibernian boss Nick Montgomery praises new arrivals after Kilmarnock draw

Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery praised the impact of his new recruits after Myziane Maolida and Emiliano Marcondes both impressed in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

Hibs found themselves two goals down through a Dylan Vente own goal and a Matty Kennedy strike but they got back into the game through Joe Newell’s stunning volley and grabbed a point through substitute Maolida, after Corrie Ndaba had seen red for the hosts.

It was Maolida’s first goal since joining on loan from Hertha Berlin, while Marcondes was lively in midfield as he made his first start after signing on loan from Bournemouth.

Speaking about his new signings, the Hibs boss said: “It’s minutes in the legs for (Emiliano) Marcondes, who I thought was different class.

“He’s not played for a while and I knew bringing the quality in in this window, it would take them a period to get up to speed.

“The squad’s getting revamped. There’s players gone out on loan and there’s new players coming in.

“I always said the players coming in have to be better than what we’ve got – they have to make an impact on the team. I thought today you saw that with the new signings coming in.

“And Myziane when he came on – you can see the guy is a top-quality player. He needs to get fit, he’s not played since November but he caused all sorts of problems and deserved his goal.”

Hibs remain sixth in the league after failing to win for the fifth straight league match, but Montgomery remained optimistic as he reflected on his side’s campaign so far.

He added: “I came in when the club was bottom of the league, four weeks ago we were one point off third and we’ve had a tough run. But we’ve been to a semi-final of a cup and were unlucky not to get to the final.

“On top of that we’re through to the next round of the Scottish Cup after a good win away to Forfar. I still believe we can achieve what I think we can this season.”

Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes, meanwhile, was pleased with the defensive effort of his players as they hung on to a point despite being reduced to 10 men and having to weather a Hibs onslaught in the closing stages.

The Killie boss was highly critical of the decision to send off Ndaba, comparing it to a similar feeling of injustice he felt after Kyle Vassell was sent off against the same opposition back in February last season.

He said: “I’m just delighted that the players managed to stick together. It all got a bit chaotic at the end and we just tried to see the game out to get a point for our efforts, which was the least that we deserved.

“When Newell flies one into the top corner, it was out of the blue. We had work to do to still get the result. Of course, there was no guarantee we’d have won the game. But the red card certainly didn’t help.”