O’Connor quick to impress Fenlon

New Hibs manager Pat Fenlon has been especially impressed by Garry O’Connor since his arrival at Easter Road, and praised the striker for his display in Friday night’s abandoned encounter with Motherwell.

O’Connor put Hibs 1-0 up in the 16th minute of the ill-fated clash with a clinical finish after he reacted quickest when Leigh Griffiths’ shot cannoned back off the post.

The Scotland cap was handed the captain’s armband for the Fir Park meeting and tasked with performing the lone striker’s role in a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation fielded by Fenlon in his first match in charge.

His manager praised the display of the former Birmingham City and Lokomotiv Moscow marksman, whose confidence will have been boosted following a stretch of seven outings without a goal.

Fenlon said: “I thought he was brilliant for us. He put in a great shift.

“We had him up there on his own and it’s a difficult position to play on your own.

“But he bought into it and he caused their centre-halves all sorts of problems, and it was a fabulous finish because he reacted very quickly.

“He had been out with illness but he trained quite well last week for a fella who had only just got off his sickbed.”

Fenlon, who had his players back on the training ground on Saturday morning to begin the build-up to Saturday’s visit of Rangers, was also delighted with the 45-minute performance of Michael Hart.

Hart and O’Connor for Martin Scott and Richie Towell were the two changes made by Fenlon for his debut in the dugout. Former Aberdeen, Livingston and Preston defender Hart has failed to convince the Hibs fans since signing under John Hughes in July last year.

The 31-year-old made 22 appearances last term, when manager Colin Calderwood signed Towell on loan from Celtic to fill in at full-back.

And, having suffered a serious groin injury in August, Hart had the benefit of only one previous outing this season prior to Friday, when he lasted 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock.

However, with David Wotherspoon having also filled in at right-back in recent weeks, Fenlon said the selection of Hart against Motherwell had been a “no-brainer” because of his experience in a position that has been Hibs’ Achilles heel in recent seasons.

The former Bohemians boss added on Hibernian TV: “He’s a right-back. David’s been in there and he’s probably not comfortable in there. Harty was very, very solid. He knows the game, he knows how to defend and he’s got great experience.

“He was good in training last week and I spoke to (assistant) Billy (Brown) about it and he said he had been like that for a couple of weeks.

“So, it was a no-brainer, to be honest.

“He is a right-back and he knows how to play the position, so we got him in the team.”

Meanwhile, Hibs have handed rising star Danny Handling a new contract that will keep him at the club for another three years.

The 17-year-old became the fourth-youngest player to appear in the first team when he made his debut as a last-minute replacement for Derek Riordan in May’s 3-1 home defeat to Aberdeen.

Head of academy coaching James McDonaugh said: “I’m delighted for Danny. Now it is up to him to continue to put in a lot of hard work and to fulfil his great potential.”