Thornton Hibs boss Craig Gilbert wants revenge for 5-1 hammering


Sixth-placed Thornton go into the fixture seven points ahead of fourth-bottom Athletic after 13 games, but Gilbert’s men will need to play better than they did against the same opposition nearly four months ago.
"Preston were one of the teams that came to our place in the league and we didn’t play very well,” the gaffer said. “Everything they hit went in, they scored two screamers and turned us over 5-1 that day so we’re looking to return the favour this Saturday.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"I think my players will be extra motivated. I won’t need to say much to them, I’ll just put the last score up on the board to remind them what happened and say: ‘Let’s not let that happen again’.
"Coming up to the Christmas and New Year period is one of the most important spells of the year because people get complacent, they don’t train, obviously they drink a lot and people can lose points that don’t typically do so.
"There will be a lot of points dropped that you’re not expecting and I hope we’re not one of them.”
Thornton – who have Garry Thomson back fit among a 16-man squad as they are without four injured players – were idle last Saturday as the whole of the East of Scotland Football League card was wiped out by the frozen pitches and high winds caused by Storm Bert.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt meant Gilbert’s men were denied the chance to host promotion rivals Bo’ness Athletic.
"Everybody wants to play a big game so we were no different,” Gilbert said. “I was a wee bit unhappy the Bo’ness Athletic game wasn’t played but we’ll just have to play it a wee bit later on.
“Ironically, I think the games would have been OK to be played on Sunday because it was that mild.”
Hibs’ Fife rivals Glenrothes FC are still in 10th place in the EoS Premier Division on 18 points from 14 fixtures after their scheduled home league game against Tynecastle last Saturday was postponed.
Glens have no competitive match this Saturday. Their next league game is at home to Jeanfield Swifts a week on Saturday, kick-off 1.30pm.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.