Stevenson glad as Hibs back on track

ALISTAIR STEVENSON admitted his delight today after getting Hibs back on track – and insisted that every ounce of effort his players put into the victory over Kilmarnock was for the club's supporters.

The Easter Road fans had not seen their side win at Easter Road since March 6 but two headed goals from Chris Hogg on Saturday gave them their first home win in over seven months.

Stevenson revealed that he and Gareth Evans, who have been handed the responsibility of leading the side while the club searches for a new manager, had spoken to the squad before the game to emphasise the importance of restoring a sense of pride for the supporters.

He said: "I was just delighted to get the win for the fans because they have been great over the last couple of weeks at every level. They deserved that victory and it was the highlight of the weekend for me, to be able to get the fans back on their feet again and giving them something to shout about.

"I think it was important to give them their pride back. We explained that to the players before the game. We told them how important it was that we got something for the supporters and I think every single one of them out on that pitch really delivered what we asked of them.

"The players are as pleased with that as myself and Gareth are. Apart from the coaching sessions that we have taken over the last couple of weeks, we have tried to get their confidence levels as high as possible and we've remained positive.

"We felt that if we could get their self-belief and confidence high then that would see them through the game and thankfully that turned out to be the case."

Meanwhile, Stevenson admitted that he had feared the worst after his new-look back four lost a goal to Killie inside the opening two minutes.

He said: "They took a bit of time to get used to playing alongside one another because they've never played as a back four together before – and I have to admit that we wondered what we had done when Kilmarnock scored after a minute or so.

"But they settled in well after that. Lewis Stevenson got better as the game went on, Sol Bamba and Paul Hanlon were magnificent in the middle and Hoggy managed to get two really important goals for us, so we were really pleased by the way that they pulled together."