John Hughes takes his first steps in to European club side management tomorrow night as his exciting Hibs side take on NK Maribor of Slovenia in the the 3rd round of the Europa League Qualifiers. Hibs have just finished a beneficial tour of Holland where Hughes squad was tested against decent oppositions like Vitesse Arnhem , NEC Nijmegen , Den Haag and Heracles.
As the Hibs squad prepare for their first match in Europe since 2005-06 (they have played in the now defunct Inter Toto Cup) they will have to do it without towering defender Sol Bamba who broke club rules by returning late from international duty at the World Cup , he has been left at home but manager Hughes will take heart that he has signed 3 very decent players in Dutchman Edwin de Graaf , Michael Hart from Preston and David Stephens from Norwich city.
The Slovenians have just recovered from financial hard times , they came 2nd in the Slovenian league last season although at the end of the 90s and the start of the this decade they were completely dominant winning 7 league titles in a row. Having already beaten old Hibs foes in Videoton (3-1 on agg) , Maribor will be confident of putting John Hughes euro rookies to the sword. Nk maribor will also have the advantage of playing 2 league games , a 5-0 home win over Triglav was followed with a 0-0 draw away to Rudar , Hibs will need to be aware of top scorer Viti Plut who has scored 3 times already this season.
The Hibees will be relying on their front line tonight to get the vital away goal or goals , when you players such as Derek Riordan and Anthony Stokes then you will always create chances , Riordan can create and score something from nothing and Stokes has just enjoyed and excellent season where he scored over 20 goals.
Prediction - I'm really looking forward to see how John Hughes sets his side up tomorrow , i think he is an exciting young coach who will move on to massive things , his side play nice attractive football (probably the best in the SPL) , although Hibs faded badly in the 2nd half of the season , I'm hoping that Hughes positive mentality can get Hibs a result tonight , so i would not rule out a goal scoring draw for Hibs , BUT...... the European experience is with the Slovenians here , that's why i think they will sneak this game 2-1 , i hope I'm wrong but i do expect Hibs to score in this game and make it a cracker at Easter road in a weeks time.
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