Hibs boss says team won't wilt in Slovenia hothouse

Hibs boss John Hughes expects his players to take a roasting in NK Maribor's Stadion Ljudski with temperatures in the Slovenian city having hit a sweltering 35ºC over the past week.

The Easter Road stars will also have to contend with a volatile atmosphere with the Maribor fans renowned for their exuberance but Hughes insisted his team will keep their cool as they aim to keep their Europa League third round qualifying tie alive for the return leg in Edinburgh.

Hughes admitted the heat could pose a serious problem, pointing out how referee Tom van Sichem halted play 25 minutes into last week's friendly with Dutch side NEC Nijmegen as the mercury touched 30C.

Hibs won't be afforded that luxury on Thursday night, but Hughes believes, having had four matches in just eight days in the hothouse of Holland, will have helped his players acclimatise for what lies ahead. He said: "Obviously it is going to be a problem and Maribor are more used to it than ourselves. Dehydration is a terrible thing but we will do everything we can to make sure they take plenty of fluids on board.

"We'll be asking the referee and the UEFA delegate exactly what we are allowed to do and what won't be allowed but, obviously, we won't get a break midway through each half as we did against Nijmegen when the ref showed a great deal of commonsense.

"I'm pretty sure we won't be allowed to place bottles of water around the pitch either but we'll certainly have some in our net and if there is any break in play, for an injury or whatever, we'll be filling them with water.

"The Maribor supporters also make plenty of noise so it is up to us to keep our cool, no matter the heat, the surface, the crowd, how good a team they are we need to put on an almighty performance.

"None of us can be feeling sorry for ourselves or apprehensive, we need everyone to have a man-of-the-match performance."

Hughes again had nothing to say on Sol Bamba, the Ivory Coast defender having eventually rejoined the squad after failing to appear as expected last week in Holland following World Cup duty in South Africa.

The 25-year-old was ordered to train with the youths at East Mains yesterday following his return and won't travel with the squad tomorrow, a sign of Hughes' focus on the game in hand, the manager having stated he can't see how Bamba believes he can prepare for such an important game in only two days.