Why Hibs will go easy on Lewis Miller after red card as Jair Tavares steals show again amid Dundee's Rocky Bushiri claim

Hibs manager Nick Montgomery speaks to Lewis Miller after his sending off against Dundee.

Hibs manager Nick Montgomery will go easy on Lewis Miller despite the Australian defender turning from saint to sinner in his team’s 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park.

The 23-year-old right-back was one of Hibs’ more impressive performers and netted the second goal with a towering header on 58 minutes to add to Jair Tavares’ opener. However, six minutes later Miller was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Owen Beck, leaving his team-mates a man short as they tried to hold on to their lead. Beck did halve the deficit on 86 minutes but Hibs held firm to land a precious victory and leapfrog their opponents into fifth in the process.

"It was a good three points,” said Montgomery.” We had the 2-0 lead then went down to ten away from home with the crowd on top of them. We invited pressure on by dropping deep and on the counter-attack we could have killed things off. It was a sloppy goal to concede, it was one we could have avoided. It swings the momentum. They took risks but we stood strong and saw the game out.

Dundee believed Rocky Bushiri should have seen red for a challenge on Owen Beck.

“[Lewis Miller’s] first booking was silly. He didn’t need to get involved in the altercation and that’s what I’ve told him. You pick up a silly booking and you’re walking a tightrope. His second was maybe harsh but I’ve not seen it. In that moment you regret the first one because it affects you and the team but he scored a winning goal with the header so I’ll let him off.”

Montgomery hailed his players for holding firm given that they have conceded late goals when in winning positions. “We’ve been 2-0 up in a few games and conceded late and dropped points but we deserved more in some of those games,” said the manager. “You don’t always get what you deserve. I was really proud of the boys. They work really hard and internally we had to fix it, whether it was a mental thing or affecting us by us not playing our football and heads dropping but we’ve addressed it and it’s great to see us putting bodies on the line.”

Tavares was once again the man of the moment, netting his second goal for the club and being one of the team’s most creative players. Montgomery was delighted with the Portuguese’s contribution as he continued his renaissance under the new manager. “He’s been outstanding,” added Montgomery. “Everyone knows his story. He’s been in the media with what he went through. He’s had a really tough time but most sportsmen do and it showed his character. He deserved his goal, he’s been one of our most consistent players. It’s not easy when you’ve been out so long. He still has some way to improve. He could have had some assists and gets excited in front of goal but he will continue to get stronger and fitter.”

Dundee manager Tony Docherty could not fault his team’s effort but wished they had been more clinical. “We just ran out of time,” he said. “We weren’t clinical enough. We had double the shots and double the shots on target to Hibs. We need to convert. Today we fell short in that area. I can’t criticise them. They give everything. I know how much they put in and they deserved something.”

Docherty also queried whether Hibs defender Rocky Bushiri was lucky to escape a red card for a challenge on Beck, which was only deemed worthy of a yellow by referee Don Robertson. When asked if the tackle merited a sending off, Docherty said: “I thought so. I thought it was reckless, high and at the speed Beck was going through I was worried for him. I thought it might be a possible bad injury. VAR must have looked at it and thought it wasn't.”