Mixu: give Riordan time

MIXU PAATELAINEN today warned Hibs fans not to place an unfair burden of expectation on the shoulders of Derek Riordan following his sensational return to Easter Road.

The Hibs boss sparked a frenzy among supporters by snapping up the striker in a £400,000 deal following two unhappy years with Celtic.

As the Evening News revealed yesterday, replica strips bearing Riordan's name and unique number, 01, have been flying off the shelves at the club's shop while ticket and hospitality sales for next Saturday's visit from Dundee United have soared.

But, while delighted with the fans' response to Riordan clinching a three-year deal, Paatelainen cautioned against expecting too much too soon from a player who scored 64 goals in his first spell with the club.

Paatelainen, of course, is convinced the 25-year-old will be just as prolific second-time-around and believes he will quickly get over his period of enforced inactivity at Celtic Park, but he's urging fans to be patient if everything doesn't fall into place for Riordan straightaway. He said: "There is the danger people will anticipate Derek banging in hat-tricks immediately. Of course we hope it all clicks right away, but it might not happen. It might happen right away, it might take a couple of matches or so."

Riordan's return has also led to many believing he'll form a strikeforce with Steven Fletcher, but, with Colin Nish and on-loan French hitman Steve Pinau also vying for places, Paatelainen is content to leave opposition managers to guess as to not only who will be playing, but where.

He said: "Everyone has their favourite team, everyone believes they know how we should play. That's the beauty of football, it's all about opinions.

"These guys all have different attributes which is always good to have. I think we have good cover, good options which means we can not only play different players in different positions but employ different formations and systems.

"However, whoever plays we must make sure we have a strikeforce which scores goals and wins games."