Pain eases for Hibs' Hogg

CHRIS HOGG was left in agony as spasms wracked his back. But the pain was nothing to the feeling of helplessness as Hibs tumbled to defeat by Capital rivals Hearts before suffering a numbing Scottish Cup exit at the hands of First Division Ross County.

It was, without doubt, one of the most depressing weeks John Hughes' players had endured, one which left many asking whether the Easter Road side's season was disintegrating.

Today, though, a morale- boosting victory over relegation-haunted Falkirk has provided some measure of relief for Hogg, who made a winning return against the Bairns, his team-mates, boss Hughes and thousands of Hibs supporters.

Granted, the three points came against the SPL's basement outfit but, nevertheless, Hogg insisted it was a result which was of inestimable importance, one which not only lifted Hibs above Motherwell but has left Hughes' players knowing that another win tomorrow night against Euro rivals Dundee United will see them leapfrog the Tannadice outfit and regain third place, the position they had occupied for much of the season until they hit the skids with a run of just one victory in nine outings.

While admitting it hadn't been the classiest performance of the season, the central defender said: "I said to the guys before the Falkirk game I didn't care how we played as long as we got the result.

"The three points were vital at this time of the season and, hopefully, the result will boost confidence. Yes, we could have performed a little bit better but we did okay and let's look on the positives, we've shown great character in coming from behind, the desire and hunger was there to win the match, we scored three goals and did so."

Hogg was able to see for himself the toll a string of disappointing results had taken on his team-mates as he watched from behind the away dug-out at Tynecastle as Hearts deservedly won the third Edinburgh derby of the season.

And while he, understandably, didn't make the long journey to Dingwall for the Cup quarter-final replay three days later, he listened in frustration as Hibs' love-hate relationship with that particular piece of silverware took an all-too-predictable twist at Victoria Park.

The 25-year-old said: "I'd been carrying my back for a couple of weeks but I just couldn't move after the first Ross County game. I've been working hard with the club physio Colin McLelland and a good friend of mine, Ross McDonald, a chiropractor in the city, to get back.

"The worst thing has been that feeling of helplessness, wanting to be out there doing your bit trying to help the boys but, again, seeing things from a different perspective was a positive for me.

"There was a lot of negativity about the place and you could see the team was short on confidence which in football happens when you are not getting results. Some of it, I felt, has been unwarranted and over the top, but we have to be big and brave enough to rise above that, take the win over Falkirk and push on.

"It sets things up nicely for tomorrow night, a game we are all looking forward to. United had another good result against Motherwell at the weekend, they are a difficult team to play against but we have to take the belief and confidence gained from beating Falkirk into the match."

Hogg conceded, however, that, again, Hibs will have to work hard to prevent the loss of highly preventable goals, a problem which has afflicted the Edinburgh club on numerous occasions and was evident again as Mark Stewart was allowed to evade three insipid challenges before firing Falkirk into an early lead.

The Middlesbrough-born star, however, praised his team-mates for the way in which they refused to allow that setback to sink them as they hit back almost immediately with a trademark Derek Riordan free-kick before Anthony Stokes and Sol Bamba put Hibs on their way to a third win of the season over Falkirk. Hogg said: "It wasn't a good goal from our point-of-view, we've spoken about the need to eradicate them, but the way we responded shows real good attitude."

Hogg, right, agreed there were a couple of rocky moments, Steven Pressley's men twice hitting the woodwork while Bairns striker Enoch Showunmi somehow contrived to take a fresh air shot only three yards from goal, while Stokes' 19th goal of the season enjoyed a deflection off Falkirk defender Marc Twaddle. Bamba's goal was his second, the first having come at the same end of the same ground when Hibs won by an identical 3-1 scoreline away back in August, leading Hogg to joke: "I was telling Sol he must like that stadium as he's scored his only two goals for us there."

However, he refused to countenance the suggestion that Hibs' triumph was purely down to luck. He said: "Perhaps Anthony's shot wouldn't have taken that deflection a couple of weeks ago the way things were going for us and there were times when Falkirk had us on the back foot.

"That happens in football, teams will always have a spell when they are on top. Perhaps sub-consciously we sat off a bit because we hadn't been getting good results. But we saw them off. I believe the rub of the green does even itself out over the course of a season.

"Falkirk will say they made chances but for us it was a case of getting through the second 45 minutes and holding on to our lead. Luck doesn't win football matches, we scored three goals and deserved to win.

"It was, though, a relief to hear the final whistle – we'd have been happy to hear it at half-time. All joking apart, though, we have to look at the positives, three goals a win and up a place in the table.

"Now we have to push on, use that confidence and belief that we can get the three points tomorrow night."