Hibs striker talks ability, availability and appetite for starring role in top-six scrap

Having finally scored a goal for the manager he’s tormented so often in opposition, Adam Le Fondre craves just one thing. More opportunities to prove his value to Nick Montgomery.

In Dingwall on Wednesday night, the Hibs forward turned the tide of a game that should – should – have ended with him celebrating a winning goal, having inspired a fightback from 1-0 down to secure an important 2-1 victory. Whatever went wrong in the eight minutes of injury time added on by referee David Munro, it can’t be laid at the feet of a veteran striker whose half-time introduction transformed the performance of his team.

Ask Le Fondre if he’s ready to start a game for the first time since October, then, and you’ll get the obvious answer, the Englishman insisting: “I’m always ready to start. Obviously, my role varies here. I think I showed earlier in the season when I started, I could make an impact that way or off the bench. It just depends on how we go.

“I’m fit. I think I showed in 45 minutes I am still alright. If you give me chances, I am going to score. So it’s on the wide boys, or the number 10. Not me!

“The message from the boss is always the same - just go and score! He has been pestering me to score for him because I always scored against him in Australia!

“So he was like: ‘Come on, when are you going to get this goal for me?’ I thought I was going to get him the three points against County.

“It’s very simple when I come on the pitch, I want to score goals, I want to help us get three points. I think I have done that the majority of times I have played. It’s just disappointing to only get a point out of the game in Dingwall.”

Dropping two points at the very death in the Highlands saw Hibs slip to seventh place in the table with just four games remaining before the split. Of those four fixtures, none represents a more obvious chance to claim maximum points than Saturday’s visit of Scottish Premiership bottom feeders Livingston.

WATCH THE LATEST EPISODE OF FITBAW TALK HERE

“We have to get the three points, there’s no two ways about it,” said Le Fondre. “I don’t see any other way; we have to win. We can’t look at other teams, we can only look at ourselves.

“We shot ourselves in the foot the other night, but that result is over now, we have to move on fast to the Livingston game. That’s where our full focus is now.”

Even if Dylan Vente recovers from the rolled ankle that has caused him to miss the last two fixtures, Le Fondre – now 37 but arguably the quickest thinker in the squad – has staked a claim to start. He certainly looks a more natural fit as a lone striker than Emi Marcondes, who almost visibly grew in stature when the half-time changes allowed him to step back into the No. 10 role.

Three months spent sidelined by a serious knee injury doesn’t appear to have slowed the former Sydney, Bolton, Wigan, Wolves et al goal scorer, whose time on the treatment table was arguably made worse by watching so many interesting new signings arrive in January. With Marcondes top of the pile.

“He’s a very intelligent player and a good footballer, and it excites me playing with someone like that,” said Le Fondre. “I like to think I am quite an intelligent football player as well, so we work well together.

“I was injured when we signed him, and his first game was Kilmarnock. And afterwards I messaged the gaffer and said: ‘I think he and I will do well together.’

“He can see a pass, he creates space for other people, it’s given me a bit more excitement to come back in and get amongst it. I want to play and score goals - and he is a player who can provide that for me.”

Admitting to still nursing some disappointment from the draw with County, Le Fondre added: “I thought the script was written for me, coming off the bench. I had half a hand in the first goal, scored the second, we got to 90-whatever minutes and thought we had seen it out nicely.

“Then we obviously switch off and concede a goal which was a real sucker punch for us. It’s disappointing. We were all down in the dressing room because we threw it away.

“It’s a great ball from Joe (Newell) for my goal. Nectar (Triantis) played in one similar where I tried to chip the keeper and it was a little sighter. It’s the sort of channel where I love running in, where I can get off the shoulder of the centre half. Joe flighted it in beautifully and I saw the keeper move a little early, so I just managed to sneak it in to the near stick.

“We’re frustrated. We felt like we had done enough to win the game. We had good chances and got in front. But with the last kick of the game we switch off at the back stick and they punished us.

“That’s football, but it’s cruel. We’re really disappointed with how things panned out.

“It feels like a defeat. We were in control, we defended really well in the last ten minutes when they had the ball and were slinging it into the box.

“But we got caught out with a ball that has come across the box. We’re looking for someone to clear it, they’ve got the run on someone and rolled it in.

“And we’re all looking around at each other thinking: ‘What the hell’s going on?’ I guess it’s a bit of a wake-up call, a realisation you have to play to the final whistle because you can’t give chances like that away or you’ll get punished.”