Thornton Hibs boss Craig Gilbert on resurgence which has seen them win three in a row
Manager Craig Gilbert has been explaining what he views as the main reason for the incredible upturn in results at Thornton Hibs over the past three matches.
After a hugely disappointing start exacerbated by Gilbert having key players unavailable for matches due to some taking holidays over the summer, the Memorial Park side have won their last three competitive fixtures with greater player numbers to pick from, including a 3-0 home Scottish Communities Cup second round victory over Westdyke Community Club Juniors followed by two home league wins (4-0 over Dundonald Bluebell last Wednesday and 3-0 v Whitburn on Saturday).
"I've been very, very happy over the last two weeks,” Gilbert said. "It’s been 3-0, 4-0, 3-0, scored 10 goals, conceded zero. Very, very good.
“It (the upturn in results) is just down to player numbers. Instead of having 13, 14, 15 players, you're getting 18, 19. Having choices, that's the difference.
"We're not scared of anybody. All the boys are there and all the boys are there to go.
"We can beat anyone on our day. That's what you have to do.
"You have to be more consistent, more competitive.
"You can't be complacent and you've got to work hard every single week.
"When we were in the league last year, you could have off days and still maybe get away with it.
"But you can't have days in this league. You've got to be at it every single day, every single week. That's the difference between the leagues.
"If you slack off in your defence, the opposition striker will punish you because they're better strikers.
"If you don't score at your end because there's better defenders, you've got to keep the ball out of your own net. So it's what's in both boxes.”
Thornton, up to 11th place in the East of Scotland Football League Premier Division with seven points from seven matches, have an away league game against Sauchie Juniors this Saturday which kicks off at 2.30pm.
Gilbert said: “We played Sauchie at home in the first game of the season and they beat us 3-0. It was men v boys, but we didn’t have all the guys there. It will be a different story this time when we're away through there, we've got a full complement and we know what’s happening.”