Rest Cure for Hibees
Two week break just what the doctor ordered for Hibee crocks
(Stuart Crowther)

HIBS WILL LIKELY WELCOME BACK at least three of their missing stars for the visit to Perth two weeks on Sunday, with the long gap brought about by international action just what the doctor ordered for the Hibs crocks.

The influence of Ulrik Laursen, Franck Sauzee, Paul Fenwick and Russell Latapy was so badly missed at East End park as Hibs went down to successive defeats for the first time this season.  It is hoped that three of that four will be back to face St Johnstone and then Rangers a week later, nobody at Easter Road however is willing to make a prediction on which three however!

Hibs were a pale shadow of the side that has terrorised most of the SPL throughout this season, and it is now clear that a Champions League place was perhaps just one step too far - not that this has ever been a realistic target for Alex McLeish, who has said time and again that third place was a lofty enough position for his side and is surely a mark of how far the club have come in such a short time.  Defeat however does not come easy for anyone at Easter Road these days, such a rare event that it has been.  "We had a spark with our substitutions against Dunfermline," McLeish told Hibs.net, adding: "Up until that point we looked well out of sorts.

Mixu Paatelainen challenges at East End Park (sns)

"We were much brighter at the death, but the second goal gave us a mountain to climb just as we were trying to reorganise our back four.  Nick Colgan did not get the support he deserved for that second goal, he made a good save.  We had a good chance just before that when young Tom McManus missed a good chance, but Tom had a difficult day - I thought that we had done everything but try him from the start of a game, and he had definitely been looking the sharpest out of our strikers.  It was a hard hour that he was on the pitch, and he never quite got into his stride and did not play as well as he is capable of, but we still have high hopes for him.

"And we had two young defenders in there today, I told them that they would have to learn the hard way.  They did not clear their goal area in the first half, either in the air or on the deck, but these young kids need encouraged but it is clear that we are not as strong a side as when we have Sauzee, Laursen, Fenwick and Latapy in the team."  The lack of an effective defence, which has been the platform on which Hibs have built much of their league success on this season, was clearly the major factor in Dunfermline becoming only the second side to take a two-goal lead over Hibs in a game this season.

From that position it was almost impossible to see Hibs fight back, but they almost did when Marc Libbra and David Zitelli where introduced while the defence was re-shuffled to allow Mathias Jack to move forward again into the midfield.  "We are messing around with our strikers just now because none of them has come out and said to me 'you can't leave me out'," McLeish said of his decision to start the game with Mixu Paatelainen and Tom McManus in attack, adding: "That is why I thought Tam deserved his crack, and Libbra was very bright when he came on but he did not start because he is lacking match practice lately.

"We are still searching for some form up front as well, and the break could not have come quickly enough as far as I am concerned.  But we are missing key players, and no matter who we bring in to the side we are not going to be the same team - the players I bring in will try hard and hopefully dig points out, but let's be totally honest, with players like Sauzee, Laursen, Fenwick and Latapy we are not going to be the same team, much as Celtic could perhaps not cope with losing the likes of Henrik Larsson or Chris Sutton."