Ignorance is bliss for Hibs striker who spared us all the hell of extra time

Christian Doidge was possibly the only man inside Station Park on Saturday NOT fretting about extra time. Because the big Welshman didn’t realise that a draw would require an extra 30 minutes of football.

Doidge, whose goal just over 20 minutes from time spared everyone another half hour in the cold and rain, genuinely believed the old Scottish Cup replay rules were still in place. Asked about extra time, he admitted: "I had no idea! The boys will be buzzing on that bus …”

Doidge, whose Man of the Match performance on Saturday included a goal-line clearance and some ferocious work in leading the line, understands that Hibs were sluggish – certainly in the first half – on their return from the winter shutdown. But he’s certain that, as the work done during Hibs’ training trip to Dubai begins to show results, they’ll soon hit top gear. Hopefully in time for Wednesday night’s visit of Rangers.

"All the lads are used to playing in Scottish Cup, or FA Cup if you played in England,” he said, when asked about the switch in mindset needed to go from Forfar to a packed crowd and marquee fixture at Easter Road. “You have to deal with it. It will be nice to be at home and play against Rangers in another big game. The league campaign is really important for us. We've got a really tough run now so it's important we pick up points.

“We worked extremely hard in Dubai. I think we classed it as a mini pre-season. The new manager has come in, so we did a lot of tactical work as well. Obviously coming to Forfar is a lot different to spending a week in Dubai but we didn't leave any stone turned, we were completely professional and managed to get the win.

“We’ll definitely see the benefits of Dubai. We worked extremely hard. We got a lot of yards in the legs and did a lot of tactical stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”

Admitting that manager Nick Montgomery had shown a bit of fire in his half-time address at Station Park, Doidge said: “He was angry, but we were angry with ourselves too. There were some choice words in the dressing room but that happens all the time when you are not playing well. Lads stand up. We knew what we were doing wrong - and we managed to fix it.

"We were in complete control of the game in the second half. First half was a different matter. They threw everything at us. That goalkeeper's kick, with the wind, caused us a lot of problems, but David Marshall saved us a few times and we made a couple of good blocks. We came in at half time, managed to play our football and get the win.

"I've played in loads of these games against teams that are a couple of divisions below and they give it everything. I've been in their shoes many times throughout my career - and you want to impress. They did really well, they were hard to play against.”