Jack Ross dismisses Rijeka’s Hibs criticism – “it’s not true”

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The respective managers had their say ahead of the first leg of their Europa Conference League third qualifying round, at Easter Road last week, when Goran Tomic angered his counterpart by categorizing the Leithers as a long-fledged team and now the Montenegrin rear has added fuel to the fire.

“Against the Scots, the most important thing is to keep the ball on the ground because then they don’t have the right answer for us… every time we put the ball down and pass it, they didn’t know how to react.

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But, Ross quickly dismissed this as a lie.

Hibs manager Jack Ross has defended his players against more derogatory comments. Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group

I said before the first leg that there was an element of the stereotypical view of Scottish football [in their rivals assessments] which can sometimes be uneducated.

But if it is repeated, it cannot be true because anyone who watched the first leg would know the way we played and the style in which we played. And if anyone watched our first two league games of the season, that would further reinforce that.

But I don’t care too much about it. Our players think we are a good team. I don’t think they pay too much attention to [Rijekas comments] but they are determined to win the game.

After a first head-to-head in which Hibs dominated the game and should have provided a comfortable scoring advantage in the second leg, instead of a 1-1 draw, it is possible that Hibs’ hosts could engage in intentionally inflammatory speeches, in an attempt to destabilize Ross’s team.

But the Easter Road boss insists that the Croatian side is not the only ones feeling confident in their ability to reserve their place for the play-offs and move closer to a group place and to European action guaranteed until at least December.

They also did this before the home game, Ross said. I think the focus has always been on our performance, we went into the first game with this clear idea of ​​what we wanted to do as a team and I think we produced a performance as a team which reflects this. It was the same for Thursday in preparation and I was looking forward to playing away in Europe in front of a crowd because in the previous round [against Santa Coloma] there really was no one there.

I have a team of players who are used to playing in front of big crowds and big stadiums and in international matches, so I think they will enjoy that.

But, having momentarily let his guard slip away at Leith, Ross hailed Hibs for having traveled to Croatia without the burden of away goals and anticipating an exciting game.

If we watch this game it would have been more embarrassing to come here with the away goal. But the first leg becomes almost redundant in terms of how to play this game. I think this is a positive rule change. This allows the second leg to be more open and attractive.

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