Yogi glad to have keeper headache at Hibs

Published on Wednesday 9 December 2009 09:25

JOHN HUGHES today admitted he's delighted Yves Ma-Kalambay has given him a selection headache ahead of the clash with Kilmarnock.

The Belgian came into the starting line-up against Motherwell last weekend after goalkeeper Graham Stack failed to recover fully from a back strain.

And the 21-year-old, who has made just four appearances for Hibs this season, grabbed his chance with both hands, capping a fine display when he somehow managed to tip over a point-blank header from Steven Saunders.

Hughes will make a decision later this week on who takes the gloves for the trip to Ayrshire but said: "It's not going to be a hard decision for me, it's not personal, for me it just comes down to who I think will go out and help Hibs win the game.

"Big Maka played really well at the weekend and there is definitely a top quality keeper in there.

"Right now he's just a young boy and I think that people sometimes forget that.

"Because of his height and his build people assume that he's 28 or 29 but he's still only 21 and he's living in a foreign country, away from his friends and family.

"I thought that his concentrations levels and position-making were much better on Saturday than I have seen from him.

"He got his chance last weekend and as a substitute the week before and he took it. That is what I have been looking for now for a while, we need two quality keepers fighting it out for the one place."

While Ma-Kalambay's performance was a source of some satisfaction for Hughes, the Hibs manager also praised the other players in his squad who, like the big goalkeeper, have found themselves out of the reckoning in recent months.

New signings Patrick Cregg and Danny Galbraith, young Paul Hanlon, Lewis Stevenson and Darren McCormack have been forced to sit on the bench for much of this season but the Hibs manager has been delighted by the attitude that they have shown.

A number of first-team stars were due to travel to England today to play in a reserve match against Sunderland and Hughes hopes that being involved will give his fringe players a boost. "We wanted to give the boys who are not playing, a chance to have a game. The guys who are on the bench most weeks still need matches and a game like this gives them a boost.

"Just because they're not playing every week it doesn't mean that they're not fit, in fact, we're actually working them harder than the guys who are in the starting 11.

"We put them through their bleep tests the other day and young Danny ran the equipment right off the scale.

"I take my hat off to them because we've really been putting them through their paces and then they're not playing on a Saturday. But they never complain, they just get on with what is asked of them."