Mixu: I won't sign up duds for Hibs

Published on Tuesday 8 July 2008 10:22

MIXU PAATELAINEN vowed today that he won't be pressured into buying players who aren't up to the job just to appease fans desperate to see new faces at Hibs.

The Easter Road manager has only signed David van Zanten from St Mirren this summer and admitted that he has missed out on others over the last few weeks.

He now has just a few weeks left before the start of the new SPL campaign to add to his squad and, following Sunday's defeat to Elfsborg in the InterToto Cup, supporters have been calling for the club to splash out to replace the likes of Guillaume Beuzelin, who signed for Coventry last month.

However, Paatelainen stressed that there will be no panic buying at the club and that he will only sign players if he is certain they will raise the standards.

He said: "I want, just as much as everyone else, to be able to come out and announce new signings and we are continuing to work on bringing players in. But I don't want to be signing players who I don't think are up to the job just for the sake of it.

"There are plenty of players out there who are available but I will only bring players to Easter Road who I think can add something to the team.

"We have had a couple of setbacks with players that we have targeted already but there are others that we are working on at the moment.

"We have a wage structure at the club and we have to stick to that and it is important that the deal is right for Hibs, for the players we are targeting – and indeed for the club that they are currently playing for. It might take us a little time but hopefully we will get the players we want."

Meanwhile Paatelainen faces a wait to find out if captain Rob Jones will be available for this weekend's away leg against Elfsborg.

The big defender went over on his ankle in the first half at Easter Road on Sunday afternoon and the joint is still swollen. And Paatelainen insists he won't risk Jones, particularly with the Swedish side playing on an artificial surface.

He added: "On the injury front we have a concern about Rob Jones after he went over on his ankle, but we are hoping that it is nothing too serious. We will have to wait and see though because we are still waiting for the swelling to go down before we can assess it properly.

"One thing that is certain though is that I won't risk him unless he is 100 per cent because Elfsborg play on an artificial surface and that can lead to some problems with injuries.

"It's important at this stage of the season that we sustain as few injuries as possible, although now that we are in competitive action again and there is a real pace and tempo to games, we are obviously going to get a few."

Hibs travel to Sweden on the back of a two-goal deficit, but Paatelainen felt that there were still plenty of positives to be taken from what was their first competitive action of the season.

"Having looked back at the tape, I think that there were lots of positives to take from the game, although there are lots of areas that we would also be looking to improve on," said Paatelainen.

"In the first half there were plenty of good moves, but our legs went in the final half hour, which I think is understandable given the stage we are at in our pre-season schedule."