Martin Boyle doesn't want Hibs' hard work to go to waste

Martin Boyle is anxious that Hibs avoid conceding cheap goals in Greece. Picture: SNS.

That is why the fleet-footed 25-year-old is determined not to give Asteras Tripolis another head-start in tomorrow’s second qualifying second leg.

An encouraging beginning to the Easter Road leg was shattered when Georgios Kyriakopoulous notched a ruthless double for the Greeks inside the opening 35 minutes.

Staring down the barrel at an early exit that Scottish football has become accustomed too, Neil Lennon’s side produced a stunning fightback after the interval to ensure they take a narrow 3-2 lead into the Theodoros Kolokotronis stadium.

Efe Ambrose, David Gray and Flo Kamberi all found the net on a memorable night in the capital and Boyle insists the players are determined not to give themselves another mountain to climb.

“We’ve given ourselves a lifeline, absolutely. We don’t want all our hard work from last year to go to waste by going out early.

“We really want to give this a try, we know it’s a tough ask to win over here. They will make it tough and they want to win as much as us.

“We knew ourselves the first half wasn’t good enough last week; we were huffing and puffing and went two goals down – and we needed that kick up the backside at half-time.

“We stood off them and they scored two goals and we could maybe have avoided that.

“But we eventually came into our own and we could have scored much more than the three goals. We now need to build on that, the vital thing is not to give away any more cheap goals.

“I’m sure this squad will get better but we need to concentrate on this game.

“Hopefully we can finish it off, it’s going to be a tough ask away from home but we’ll play our normal game, attack and hopefully we can keep the ball and cause them problems.”