Young Hibs defender admits clean sheet on Saturday was a huge bonus

But, while agreeing a vital three points had rightly been the over-riding concern, Easter Road kid Paul Hanlon today admitted he and his fellow defenders along with goalkeeper Graham Stack had gleaned a little more satisfaction at having done so without the expense of conceding a goal.

Not since two goals from Anthony Stokes secured victory against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on December 19 had Hibs denied the opposition a goal, the only respite in a run being the 3-0 win over Junior outfit Irvine Meadow in the Active Nation Scottish Cup.

The 11 league matches in the intervening period had seen the Edinburgh club ship 21 goals, destroying a defensive record which had been as good as any in the country and, with only two points out of a possible 15 gained recently, putting a huge question mark against Hibs' European credentials.

Although Dundee United's win over Hearts at Tannadice the following day saw the Tayside outfit leapfrog Hibs into third place once more, Hanlon insisted Derek Riordan's spectacular winner against Kilmarnock would silence those who were quick to predict the Easter Road outfit's demise.

The 20-year-old said: "We'd received a lot of praise earlier in the season for the way we'd been playing but then a lot of people seemed all too ready to start knocking us down.

"But I don't think any of us really paid much attention to what was being said and written, we just kept focusing on our next game and trying to get the three points. We'd had three tough away games and, while we had a chance to win the previous week against St Johnstone, it didn't happen so it was important to make sure we got the three points from Killie."

Even the sight of Moroccan striker Abdessalam Benjelloun's penalty being saved before Riordan claimed his 100th career goal in typical fashion didn't deflect Hanlon and his team-mates from their target of ending that miserable run.

He said: "There was no point starting to think it was going to be another of those days for us, we just had to keep going, working hard, doing what we know is right and we got their in the end with that unbelievable goal from Derek.

"It was all credit to the boys that we stuck in and got the three points. We'd been hoping Hearts might do us a little favour the next day at Tannadice but, to be honest, it's a case of concentrating on our own games and we have a couple of tough ones coming up at Tannadice and then Dundee United at Easter Road."

Before then, of course, Hibs face Ross County in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup at home on Saturday, a match which, temporarily, will take precedence over league business.

Hanlon, a lifelong Hibs fan, said: "I don't think we've done at all badly this season, here we are nearly midway through March and we are fighting for Europe and in the last eight of the Cup.

"We all know just how massive the Cup is for everyone, how long it has been since the club won it and as a Hibs fan it would be a dream to win it.

"However, we know Ross County will be tough, they are going very well in the First Division which they'll be hoping to win.

"It's quite nice to get a week break from the league, to be playing a different side but we also know we'll have to be at our best to get through."

To that extent, Hanlon agreed the win and shutout against Kilmarnock couldn't have come at a better time to boost confidence, the youngster having stepped from the bench to replace the injured Sol Bamba before half-an-hour had been played.

As such, he admitted both the result and clean sheet had come as something of a relief saying: "It's always hard coming off the bench, especially as a defender.

"If you are a striker you come on to try and win the game, as a defender one mistake and you can lose it.

"You have to get up to speed right away, there's no time to play yourself in, you have to be ready to defend immediately which is hard to do. I obviously don't have the same physical presence as Sol but I try to play to my strengths, do the best I can and hope that's enough to keep me in the team."

Hanlon's performance delighted boss Hughes, who described his display as "outstanding", the youngster having been forced to pull out of Scotland's Under-21 European Championship qualifying match against Azerbaijan only a few days earlier.

The former Hutchison Vale kid said: "I'd been desperate to be involved with the 21s but I'd been having a bit of bother with the base of my back.

"I think training on astroturf during the bad weather hadn't been best for it and I didn't want to make it any worse. A few days rest helped but it's an area I need to strengthen, to keep on top of it by doing my exercises to make sure it doesn't recur."

Hanlon didn't just have his late entry to the Killie match to contend with but, like his team-mates, dealing with the surreal atmosphere at Easter Road thanks to the removal of the East terracing, the area of the ground which has traditionally housed the most vociferous Hibs supporters.

Those fans found themselves dispersed, in the main, to the South Stand but, Hanlon predicted, that temporary dislocation will prove to be worth it recalling how as a youngster he had to give up his seat in the old Main Stand as it was demolished to make way for the new West Stand. He said: "It was a bit strange, almost as if you were playing somewhere else rather than your own ground. But it is up to us as players to create the atmosphere, to get the fans going with what we do on the pitch.

"I remember when I was very young finding it a bit different to watch matches from elsewhere in the ground when we had to move seats because the old Main Stand had gone. But it was replaced with a fantastic new stand. I've had a look at pictures of how the ground will look when the new East Stand is ready and it looks brilliant.

"It'll be terrific as a player to run out the tunnel and see it packed with Hibs fans opposite – it will be a great arena once it is finished."