Hibees gaffer Mixu Paatelainen has praised the central defensive partnership of Sol Bamba and Rob Jones after the pair handled the physical threat of Hearts striker Christian Nade during the weekend’s Derby at Easter Road.
It’s only the second time the giant pairing have played as a partnership, the first coming during Hibs previous SPL match against Aberdeen.
With current player of the year Chris Hogg currently suffering vision problems the big Finn is delighted the pair have forged a strong partnership.
‘I thought that the central defensive partnership we had was fantastic,” Paatelainen told Setanta Sports.
“Christian Nade is a very big and powerful player who can cause a lot of problems to centre halves.
‘I said after the game that some of our passing from defence can be better because I thought we looked a little bit reckless at times but you can’t have everything and I felt that those two dealt very well will everything that Hearts threw at them.
‘It was obviously a big blow for us to be without Hoggy but I thought that Rob and Sol did very well for us.’
Paatelainen also disclosed he was a little disappointed to only have taken a point from the game against the Jambo’s as he thought his side had done enough to win the game based on the chances created.
“Having watched the footage of the game again, I felt that we should have won the game. They had a couple of chances as well but we created much more opportunities overall and I felt that we did enough to win,’ he continued.
‘Yes, we are disappointed that we dropped two points but it is not because of the players’ ability or because they didn’t try.
‘At the end of the day that’s how football goes, you sometimes get games like that.
‘You can never score too early in a game, I would much rather score in the first couple of minutes than not at all.
‘I thought that the strikers did well for us and I don’t think that anyone can look at our side and say those three boys will not score goals this season.
‘I was pleased with every one of them and, although we only scored the one goal, I thought that we really caused them problems.’
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