Hibs star Nish says 'don't call me super sub'

HE was dubbed super sub after coming off the bench to claim a precious point as Hibs fought back to draw with Falkirk, but today striker Colin Nish admitted he's hoping it's a tag that won't stick.

The tall hitman has found himself relegated to a seat on the bench for the Easter Road outfit's last three matches, a run of undefeated games which has coincided with boss Mixu Paatelainen ditching a three-pronged attack in favour of a more traditional 4-4-2 formation.

As a result, Nish found himself the odd man out, with Paatelainen giving the nod to Steven Fletcher and Derek Riordan, the change prompting a 2-2 draw with Aberdeen followed by a crushing 4-1 win over Motherwell.

And with both Fletcher, who netted the equaliser against the Dons, and Riordan getting their names on the scoresheets at Fir Park, Nish knew the pair would merit their places in the starting line-up once again as Hibs headed to the Falkirk Stadium.

But after Bairns skipper Darren Barr had given John Hughes' team the lead, Nish was summoned from the bench, answering the call by nodding home his fifth goal of the season, matching Riordan's tally and moving just one short of the six claimed by Fletcher.

The goal ensured Nish's entry into an exclusive club of only 12 players who have scored 50 times in the SPL and now he has his fingers crossed that his contribution will give Paatelainen a headache as he ponders how best to end Celtic's magnificent run of 12 straight SPL wins when the Hoops arrive at Easter Road for Sunday's televised clash.

The 27-year-old said: "It is a bit frustrating being on the bench, I don't think there is any player who likes to be on the sidelines at any time. I want to play in as many games as I can in my career and I'm not doing that if I'm on the bench.

"The manager made the decision to change from 4-3-3 to 4-2-2 and, to be fair, I think we have played better since.

"The team had done really well at Motherwell so I didn't expect the gaffer to change anything for the Falkirk game and, of course, the most important thing is the team getting the three points as often as possible. I know it won't be the last time I'll be a substitute but as good as it was to come on and score, I don't want to be labelled a 'super sub'.

"The only way you can get off the bench is to take your chance when it comes. You need to make an impression if you are asked to come off the bench.

"That's what I tried to do at Falkirk and fortunately I managed to get the goal we needed. We'd obviously have liked to have made it back-to-back wins and, had the game gone on a bit longer, we might just have done it.

"We worked hard but sometimes it just doesn't happen for you. I think we made more chances than Falkirk throughout the match but a 1-1 draw against a good team away from home is a positive result.

"As for Sunday, it's up to the manager if that was enough for me to be considered for a start, I'll just have to wait and see, but hopefully I'll have made any decision that little bit harder for him.

"The one thing I don't think we will have any problems with in this team is scoring goals, but we need a wee bit more consistency and the fact is we have now gone three games unbeaten, two of them away from home, and that is something we can build on."

Nish accepted halting a rampant Celtic side which has already opened up a seven-point advantage over Old Firm rivals Rangers at the top of the table will be a tough task, but after scoring two goals at Parkhead just six weeks ago – even if that match ended in a 4-2 defeat – the former Kilmarnock star insisted it isn't beyond Hibs.

The visit of the Hoops also marks the end of a tough schedule for Hibs with four of their six matches in November being played away from home. Three of their next four take place in Edinburgh.

Nish said: "The league is a bit strange this season, we played Aberdeen at Easter Road only a few weeks after going to Pittodrie and now we have Celtic again almost back-to-back.

"However, we played Kilmarnock on the opening day of the season but don't play them again until the end of this month, although I suppose everything will even itself out.

"We have had a bit of a tough run recently but now we have a chance to improve our home form which, to be honest, hasn't been as good as it should have been. Hopefully we can start to give our fans a few better results.

"We are looking forward to the Celtic game, you always look forward to these ones where you know the stadium is going to be full and there will be a great atmosphere.

"They will be disappointed at having been knocked out of Europe last week but they are always difficult to beat as they have shown with the tremendous run they are on at the moment.

"Having played Celtic so recently, though, that game at Parkhead is still very fresh in our memories.

"A lot of teams would have buckled and gone under having gone two goals down there, but the fact we came back to score two of our own, even if we eventually lost, shows we are more than capable of getting a favourable result.

"I think we've shown a lot of resilience in our last few matches, fighting back from two goals down to draw with Aberdeen, dominating and then going in level at half-time against Motherwell was a big test, and then coming back again to take a point at Falkirk shows just how determined we are not to be beaten.

"On Sunday, if we work as hard as we have been and play as well as we know we can then I think we have a great chance of three points."