Heckingbottom happy with Hibernian win at Elgin

Posted Saturday, July 27, 2019 by PA

Hibernian manager Paul Heckingbottom hailed a job well done as his team won their Betfred Cup group following a 2-0 victory at Ladbrokes League Two club Elgin.

Joe Newell opened the scoring for the visitors after 10 minutes and Florian Kamberi doubled their advantage after the break, although both goals were due to defensive mistakes.

“We’ve got a lot out of the pre-season, we’ve got all the new players bedded in now and competition in all positions,” he said.

“People will get better through the season and improve to make the place in the team their own and that’s what I want.”

Heckingbottom was pleased a first-half Kamberi goal which was wrongly disallowed for offside did not have a bearing on the final result.

Assistant referee Douglas Ross is believed to have apologised to Hibs officials at half-time and Heckingbottom said: “It was a stinker. It was probably the worst I’ve ever seen in terms of distance onside. It’s a bad one.”

Elgin manager Gavin Price said he was proud of his side’s efforts and lamented the two mistakes which gifted Hibs their goals.

“It was frustrating obviously the two errors that we made for the goals but apart from that it’s an exercise that gives us confidence going into the league season,” he said.

“We didn’t look out of place against a very good Hibs side and I’m pleased with that and proud of the effort and work-rate we produced tonight.”