Mixu feels sharpness is coming back as Hibs lose out against Wigan

Hibs 0- 1 Wigan Athletic 1
WHILE the outcome may have been as disappointing as the others, this pre-season friendly at least gave supporters some signs that a sharpness is beginning to return to the Hibs side.

A second-half strike from Amr Zaki, who also scored on his debut for the Latics at the weekend, was enough to send Hibs into the start of the SPL season on the back of an eight-game winless run of pre-season matches. However, the Easter Road side created some decent chances and Steven Fletcher, Colin Nish, Dean Shiels and Filipe Morais could all consider themselves unlucky not have their names on the scoresheet against Steve Bruce's side.

There has certainly been an improvement since the disappointment of being knocked out of the InterToto Cup against Elfsborg and you have to wonder if the outcome would have been somewhat different had the two sides met now, rather than in the Easter Road side's first fortnight back in pre-season training.

And, while Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen conceded that he was again disappointed to once again lose against Wigan, he feels that there has been much improvement among his players. He said: "I felt that we looked sharp and that tells me that we are ready for the season. I was disappointed to lose the game – again – but there was plenty of effort.

"They were very powerful and strong in the first half and put us under a lot of pressure but Andy (McNeil] made a couple of fantastic saves, our defence did well and we kept a clean sheet as well. I was disappointed to lose a goal in the second half but, all in all, I felt that there were some great moves and I thought that we should have scored one or two goals."

Asked whether the lack of goals throughout their pre- season was becoming a worry, Paatelainen insisted that he is confident his players will find their shooting boots in time for the start of the SPL campaign.

The Easter Road team have scored just two goals in their warm-up matches and lost four without reply in the InterToto Cup ties against the Swedes.

However, the fact that they created chances against both Middlesbrough and last night against Wigan, pleased the Hibs manager, who added: "No, it doesn't worry me, they are there, they will come for us no problem.

"It is just the run of games that we have played lately that we haven't scored in but the chances are there. We are creating chances, everyone can see that and I would be more concerned if we weren't creating."

Hibs were again missing a number of players, Merouane Zemmama, Abdesallam Benjelloun, Ian Murray, Brian Kerr and Yves Ma-Kalambay among the absentees last night and it was the English side who created the bulk of the chances in the opening stages of the match.

However, they were frustrated as goalkeeper McNeil proved equal to them before a third opening which David van Zanten stepped in to head onto his own crossbar.

The Latics carved out the first opportunity after just five minutes when the impressive Zaki fired in an effort from close range, only for McNeil to get down quickly to his right to block it.

The stopper then pulled off a cracking stop from Maynor Figueroa's header, rising high to tip the ball over the bar.

Wigan, who beat Sheffield Wednesday in another friendly match at the weekend, looked determined to continue their winning run and, within seconds of that save, Van Zanten was forced to head the ball clear and onto the top of his own crossbar.

Bruce's side came close again with less than half an hour gone when a decent ball in across the face of goal from Mario Melchiot eluded the Hibs defence but was also missed by Emile Heskey and Zaki, who were racing in to the six-yard box.

Hibs' first real chance materialised 60 seconds later when Alan O'Brien used his pace down the left to fire the ball into the danger area but, after the slightest of touches on by Steven Fletcher, Colin Nish just couldn't stretch far enough to turn it into the net from just a couple of yards.

The home side came even closer to a goal just before the break when a Chris Hogg free-kick was helped on its way by skipper Rob Jones and into the path of Fletcher. The Easter Road striker saw the opportunity coming and spun to send a volley towards Carlo Nash's goal, only for the ball to come off the outside of the keeper's left-hand post and Nish to find himself unable to convert from the rebound. As has been the case in their previous friendly outings, Paatelainen made a host of changes at the break and throughout the remaining 45 minutes of the match, bringing on Martin Canning, John Rankin, Morais, Fabian Yantorno and one other trialist out at the beginning of the second half.

And, indeed, by the end of the 90 minutes, the Finn had used all 22 of his players in a bid to keep as many of his squad as possible at their peak levels of match fitness.

Paatelainen has so far refused to name the striker who has been trying to win a contract with the Easter Road side but the Frenchman will have done his chances no harm last night, looking strong and powerful, teaming up well with Yantorno and narrowly missing out on two strikes of his own.

The trialist almost teed up a goal for his team-mates when he whipped a cross in to former Gretna man Yantorno, who in turn diverted it into the path of Morais. The former Millwall and Chelsea player spun round to get the shot in but could only send his effort over the bar. Kevin McCann, Ross Chisholm and Lewis Stevenson were all introduced with 64 minutes gone and each of them proved that they too can do a job if called upon this season.

However, the visitors showed them the way to goal with 68 minutes gone and it was dangerman Zaki who got the strike when sub Marlon King went on a surging run almost to the byline and laid it on a plate for the Egyptian, who slotted comfortably past McNeil.

The Hibs keeper was replaced within seconds, David Grof taking his place between the sticks, and the Hungarian could also have found himself picking the ball out of the back of the net only for the post to deny King a goal of his own in the dying stages.

Despite the scoreline, Paatelainen was pleased with the effort that his players put into the 90 minutes and added: "The boys did well, the two of them looked very lively. The trialist up front did plenty of running and got into good positions. He kept the ball well and had a couple of chances that he maybe should have scored from but he is only two weeks into his pre-season so it is quite difficult for him to show his best right now.

"Fabian is a fantastic footballer, keeps the ball well, dips his shoulder and goes the other way. He does that all the time in training and we will have to see what happens with that.

Hibs: McNeil (Grof 69); Van Zanten (McCann 64), Hogg (McCormack 69), Jones (Canning 46), Hanlon (Campbell 64); O'Brien (Stevenson 64), Thicot (Chisholm 64), Keenan (Morais 46), Shiels (Rankin 46); Fletcher (Trialist 46), Nish (Yantorno 46).

Wigan: Nash, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Brown, Palacios, Valencia, Kapo, Zaki, Heskey, Figueroa. Subs: Pollitt, Sibierski, De Ridder, King, Montrose, Thomas.

Referee: Mike Tumilty