Hibs pair remain on the winning trail
Murray shows why he is ready to step up a gear
HIBS INTERNATIONAL
PAIR Ian Murray and Tam McManus
were still on the Scotland winning trail last night as they took part in
Rainer Bonhof's latest triumph with the national Under-21 side,
convincing 2-0 winners over Ghana. And it was Murray who once
again caught the eye, the Under-21 skipper almost pulling off a repeat
of his Easter Road cracker against Dundee United when he struck a
20-yard effort that the visiting goalkeeper did well to touch onto the
crossbar!
Murray will now join the full international squad for the
game at Easter Road this evening against Canada, and looks set to win
his first full cap at some point as Berti Vogts shuffles his now
depleted squad after their 2-0 European Championship triumph in Iceland
on Saturday. Likely to join Murray is his former
Hibs team-mate
Gary Caldwell, who opened the scoring for the young Scots at Queen of
the South's Palmerston Park before a 4,000 crowd. A larger crowd
is likely at Easter Road to greet a Scottish side that have over a
single weekend has restored much of the confidence lost in the national
side over the last year.
Garry O'Connor - doubts over fitness to face Partick (sns)
Hibs meanwhile continue to prepare for their own return
to action this weekend when they complete the first quarter of the
season with a visit to Firhill. After three consecutive league
victories Bobby Williamson is now looking for further improvements from
his side, with a top-six place very much back in his sights. While
John O'Neil and Frederic Arpinon are now returning to full fitness, it
would appear that this game will come to early for either, with Mathias
Jack is still a 'couple of weeks' away from making a return to first
team action. For Jack it is particularly frustrating, the German
showed remarkable patience with Hibs during the summer in waiting to be
offered a new contract, and having managed to obtain a one-year deal the
last thing he now wants is to be out of the team.
Jack was expected to make a return for
Hibs in against
Falkirk last Friday, but that came a little too early for the midfielder
who said: "I am now getting impatient because there doesn't seem to
be much improvement. But I trained on Monday and it felt okay if
not yet 100 per cent. Maybe in another two weeks I'll be able to play
again." Garry O'Connor is another worry for the game against
Partick. The striker had to pull out of the Scotland Under-21
squad last week after contracting an unknown infection.
