Hibs' Ian Murray set to invoke spirit of 2001 for Maribor return clash

Published on Saturday 31 July 2010 12:14

Hibs star Ian Murray recalled the spirit of 2001 as he insisted the Europa League qualifying tie against Maribor is far from over.

• Ian Murray

Hibs trail 3-0 from the first leg and face a mammoth task in the return on Thursday.

But Murray, the sole survivor of an amazing night at Easter Road nine years ago when Hibs almost turned round a two-goal deficit against the Greeks of AEK Athens said: "It's going to be hard, very hard but we still have a chance no matter how slim it might be.

"You never know, they might think it is already all over which might affect their approach, they might rest a few players or change their formation.

"We can change our personnel and formation and it would be interesting to see just what an early goal might do."

He revealed that a positive attitude instilled by then boss Alex McLeish gave the players the belief to stage a rousing performance which only fell short when Paco Luna missed with a header in the dying seconds.

Murray said: "It may have looked all over after the first leg but Alex McLeish told us it wasn't over, he drummed that into us and we travelled home believing we could still do it.

"As it turned out we came within a whisker.

"I'll be talking to the boys about that experience.

"Now, it's not just the gaffer (John Hughes], Brian Rice (Hibs assistant manager] and Gareth Evans (first-team coach] who must believe it is still on, but all of us.

"I know we disappointed our fans, they spent a lot of money going to Slovenia and we let them down pretty badly.

"We have to stick together and to try to get through to the next round."