Hibs facing major selection decisions over David Marshall, Rocky Bushiri and Martin Boyle for European return

David Marshall made a big mistake for the Inter Club d'Escaldes second goal last Thursday.

The side’s first leg performance in their opening Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday has heightened the desire to reintroduce the talismanic winger to real action as they look to crank up the tempo and maximise the width of the Easter Road against a team who prefer to squeeze the play.

The narrow pitch in Andorra, played to Inter Club d’Escaldes’ strengths but, if they want to salvage pride and ensure they advance to the next round, where they would face either Djurgardens or FC Luzern, they need a spark of something special.

Out for nine months following anterior cruciate ligament surgery, the knee has, thus far, stood up to scrutiny, but it had been hoped that his team-mates would take care of business and permit the physios and manager Lee Johnson to continue easing the experienced performer back in.

Rocky Bushiri was far from convincing at centre-half in Andorra.

Joe Newell’s late goal in the Estadi Comunal d’Andorra la Vella has given the Leith side enhanced belief that they can overcome the embarrassing 2-1 deficit on their home turf, where conditions and the environment should be more conducive to the type of performance they wanted on Thursday but now desperately need.

But they cannot afford to give the side a head start. An early goal for Hibs would put them back in the driving seat and there should be more space to exploit, if they can conjure up increased drive, particularly down the flanks, where Elias Melkersen and Elie Youan struggled in the first leg.

The dimension of the Easter Road pitch should provide the Frenchman, who was caught on the ball too often in Andorra as he cut inside and was crowded out, the opportunity to turn on the afterburners and use his pace to stretch the visiting rearguard and provide Adam Le Fondre, or the likes of last week’s second-half substitute Christian Doidge more service to feed off of.

The altitude won’t be a factor, nor given the Scottish summer, the heat. But if scoring the first goal would bolster Hibs, they need to eradicate the lacklustre and error-strewn play which gave their opponents such a troubling lead in Andorra. Which is where Johnson has some choices to make. In the emotional aftermath of defeat he will have had a visceral response to who needs to be cut from the starting line-up when the sides meet up again.

He knows what instructions he gave each man prior to them running out at the municipal ground in front of just over 1000 fans, and it wasn’t what they delivered. Having watched in frustration as virtually all of them fell short in that first half, he made changes at the interval. It helped as Newell and Doidge, then Jimmy Jeggo and Dan Mackay all made a difference.

In training this week, he will look for a response, though. He will review footage and then decide whether to stick or twist. In some positions, choices are more limited, but others will have a nervous few days and, perhaps, an uncomfortable conversation.

At fault for the second goal, keeper David Marshall apologised in the dressing room afterwards but he could be feeling even sorrier when Thursday night’s team is announced. “He came in, held his hands up,” explained Newell. “But these things happen. Every single player in the dressing room will make more than one individual mistake this season. Unfortunately for a goalie, they can do it once and it can lead to a goal.”

But if Hibs want to take the step to the next level, where mistakes are more likely to impact the scoreline, then they have to realise that there will be personal consequences, too. Marshall was a quality signing when he first arrived at Hibs and on his day remains as good as or better than most in the league but there were a couple of notable mistakes last term and Jojo Wollacott was brought in during the summer to provide greater competition and more strength in depth. Against that backdrop, presenting Inter with their second goal was not ideal and it will be interesting to see how Johnson responds. But others are in trouble as well. Given how ill-at ease the majority of the defence looked, changes are to be expected there.

The fact is, as a central defensive pairing, Paul Hanlon is a better player alongside Will Fish, than he is when playing alongside Rocky Bushiri, which is why the timing of the Manchester United loanee’s return was important. Registered before the first tie, he is eligible to slip into the backline on Thursday, where his composure rubs off on Hanlon and his ability to stay focused and take on board the more experienced Hanlon’s in-match coaching means they complement eachother and work better as a unit.

That greater stability in the heart of the defence is likely to be important as their Andorran rivals look to snatch a goal and what had been billed as an unlikely victory.

There are similar selection quandaries all over the pitch, with Jordan Obita trying to shake off a thigh injury in time to apply pressure to Lewis Sevenson, who also came up short and was also culpable at the Inter Club d’Escaldes second goal, as he failed to deal with the long ball.

But, this Thursday it will be about more than personnel, it will be about those who take to the pitch finding the right levels of urgency, aggression, bravery, and the type of performance that suits them rather than pandering to their opponents. It will be a case of utilising the bigger pitch and the home crowd.

If they can get an early goal, the fans will get behind them but if they lose one, they will have to shut out their own demons and the frustration and anger in the stands.