Mowbray calls for patience against Dnipro

TONY MOWBRAY today revealed his desire for Hibs to adopt a cute approach to Thursday night's UEFA Cup tie with Dnipro, a side that the manager believes will defend rigidly at Easter Road.

Mowbray has already been to Ukraine to see Dnipro play and gathered his squad yesterday to analyse video footage of their European opponents and discuss the attitude he wants his players to take in Hibs' first UEFA Cup encounter for four years.

Patience, Mowbray believes, will be a virtue for his players against what is a steadfastly organised defence, and any inclinations of the often disastrous gung-ho approach taken by Scottish clubs in the past must be quickly dissolved.

Whilst guarding against the lethal counter-attacking instincts of Dnipro's chief threat Sergey Kornilenko, Mowbray believes Hibs must retain possession of the ball and await a moment to strike.

The manager said: "Dnipro are new opposition for us and they have international footballers with plenty knowledge of how to play the game. It will be a big test.

"They look like a team who know what they are doing. They look very difficult to score against. When I saw them they played three centre-backs, all big, strong, powerful boys who defend their box.

"They also have two holding midfield players in front of the defence which makes them very difficult to play through, so I am not anticipating a cavalier type of game. Although Dnipro haven't won many games this year, they haven't conceded many goals either.

"They also possess a very potent threat on the break and we have to be wary of that. I went over to watch them and have seen bits and pieces on tape, and they have a very distinctive style of play with short, crisp passing and good linking with each other.

"If you are not organised against them then they can pass through you and around you very quickly. The message is that we have to be patient and understand that if we are too cavalier and too open we will leave ourselves vulnerable. There is no reason for us to go chasing the game. We have to be compact and disciplined and hope that something comes our way later on. When it does, we must take it."

Hibs trained for the first time this week earlier today after Mowbray yesterday commissioned a relaxing afternoon in front of the TV for his squad. "We didn't do anything yesterday, just watched a video and had some bacon sandwiches and a cup of tea," he laughed.