Every word from Nick Montgomery's Hibs press conference

Dylan Vente, then - five shots, five goals...

“I think it was six shots, five goals, I was told. But if it’s five in five, even better…

Martin Boyle gave him five in five!

“Martin Boyle gave him five in five? I wouldn’t believe what Boyley says!

Given the club lost Kevin Nisbet in the summer, how big has it been for you to come in and have a striker already firing?

“If you look at Dylan’s career, even at youth level, he’s scored 20-odd goals a season. That’s not easy to do.

“It was good, astute business by the club. By all accounts, he didn’t have much of a pre-season, he came in a bit unfit but from what I’ve seen he’s a great person, firstly, and a hard worker.

“He’s a player who has belief he can score every time he steps on the field, and if you have three of them – with Doidgey and Le Fondre, one of the best of his generation – it’s nice to have those options. Dylan’s been fantastic – he’s very low maintenance, listens and does what we ask him to do.

“He’s in the right place at the right time and the composure in his finishing is high level.”

How difficult is it for strikers to adapt that quickly to a new league, or does it not matter when you have the ability?

“You can coach strikers, and I’ve played with some very good ones, but ultimately you can’t coach them where to be in the box when the ball arrives, for me that’s a knack and Dylan has it.

“He always finds space in the box. His finish against St Mirren, he spins and hits it with his left. To be both-footed and have ability to find space in the box, it’s nice to have those players.

Can you see it in training, as well, that some guys just know where the goal is all the time?

“Yeah, and he’s always out practicing his finishing. At times, you have to chuck him off the training ground, especially with three games in a week! I told him to get off the training pitch today, he was still taking free-kicks and finishing.

“But, yeah, you don’t want to stop that. We like to do extra with the players and work on their individual development.

“Dylan is enjoying his football and is playing in a team that’s creating chances. As a striker, that’s the teams they want to be in.

“It won’t always be the case, sometimes there won’t be a lot of chances in the game and you have to be clinical. To have Dylan, Le Fondre and Doidge in the team, that’s something I’m very happy about.

That's high praise for Le Fondre...

“You look at his career, he scored plenty of goals in the Premier League, coming off the bench when he was at Reading. If you’re a striker scoring in the Premier League, you must be high level.

“He’s scored goals everywhere he’s gone, including against me in Australia! Balls that hit defenders drop at his feet and he taps it in.

“Hopefully, he’ll be back in amongst the goals soon. For me, the likes of him and Billy Sharp, Championship strikers as well, they’ve been scoring goals their whole career and are still doing it now.

“That’s not something many can do for a long period of time.

If you add in the likes of Martin Boyle and Elie Youan, do you feel several could get double figures?

“Yeah I was talking purely about central strikers but with the way we play, Elie and Boyley can score and assist. All of them can do that.

“We need to make sure they defend as well and understand their role is not just to score. They have to work hard for the team, if not they won’t play.

“But they’re all honest and not afraid to track back to do the other side of the game. It’s always nice to have players sharing goals around.

Is Le Fondre's intelligence the glue that brings the frontline together?

“He’s really important. The strikers I name there all have different qualities, but Alfie is really intelligent.

“He finds those half-spaces and his awareness of what’s around him is top class. The flick for Dylan against St Johnstone was top class.

“If you see that at any level, you hold your hands up… the awareness, the weight of pass and Dylan understanding what he’s going to do, we work on that in training as well.

“When you have players of that intelligence, you’ll always have chances to score goals.

Are these goalscorers taking the pressure off the defence until you get that the way you want it?

“We defend as a team and attack as a team. You don’t want to concede goals, but if football was a perfect game no one would score a goal.

“In this league, there’s a lot of high balls into the box. We’ve already conceded through a set-piece and a ball to the back post that we don’t deal with, we have to improve on that.

“We’re working in training but it’s also not easy to train against, because the deliveries are hit in with pace and when you have big strikers it only takes a second – a defender loses his man and it can result in a goal.

“We definitely need to get better at that. There’s never any blame for anyone conceding a goal, we attack as a team and defend as a team.

Allan Delferriere signed a new contract this week, have you seen something in him that you like?

“The club was already in discussions with him. He’s a young player. who has a lot of potential. But potential is one thing and Allan is a very hard worker and has good qualities.

“It’s a new contract for a young player and there’s no doubt if he continues to work hard he’s got a big career ahead of him.

“As a club, you don’t want to lose your best young players, especially, and he’s definitely a young player who has a big future at the club.

How important is Joe Newell as captain? Is he the one who really has to be up to speed with your gameplan?

“I knew a lot about Joe before I took the job; he’s obviously played Championship football in England, which is not easy.

“I told him on the first day that I think he can give more, and he agreed.

“He’s a player everyone can see is very talented and I asked him to work harder, and I think he has been.

“I think he can score goals, he can defend, he can spray balls left, right and centre - he’s got a great left foot - and at set-pieces he can assist. He’s one of those players who has a lot of different attributes, and he’s happy.

“He’s definitely someone pivotal to the team, and I think Jimmy Jeggo has also been outstanding with the ground he covers. He’s a player who’s probably similar to the way I played, doing a lot of the hard work for the team.

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"He plays it simple and gives it to the players who are really going to cause problems for the opposition, and he’s always covering for everybody, picking up those second balls. I think him and Joe have been really good, and that’s why the heart of midfield has been really important for us.

“We’ve got Dylan Levitt and Allan Delferriere on the bench ready to come on and waiting for their opportunity. 

“There’s competition for places everywhere but right now those two have been fantastic for me.

Is Dylan Levitt fully fit now?

“He’s fully fit, he just needs some game-time. That’s the challenge now, is to get some extra games in.

“We’ve got a game next week for some of the boys who possibly need a little top-up. Those are things I’ve tried to organise to make sure anyone who’s not playing is fit and ready to go when they’re called upon.

“It’s just a bounce game here on the grass, so we’re looking forward to that next week.

“We’ll get through this game and then we’ll decide who needs minutes and work that out for Tuesday.

In terms of the captaincy, does Joe Newell have that role for the rest of the season?

“For me, Paul is the club captain and if he’s not playing then Joe is the vice-captain and he wears the armband.

“For me, we should have 11 captains on the pitch. I could have chosen David Marshall for his experience, and he’s been great for me, he’s a real calming influence at the back, and when he’s needed he’s there.

“But I thought giving it to Joe would give him a bit more responsibility. I think he’s a player who can handle responsibility. In big games, when you need someone to step up, he can step up.

Have you spoken to Paul Hanlon about why he’s out?

“I speak to all the players and tell them why they’re playing and why they’re not playing. I’ve always had that communication with the players.

“Paul’s been fantastic, he’s the ultimate professional and a legend of the club.

“I just felt when I came in that Rocky and Will were a good partnership. They’ve both been very good.

“Paul is chomping at the bit for his opportunity and every time he’s come on he’s put on a solid performance. I’ve no issue there whatsoever.

You have been putting Paul on when not many managers would change their centre-back pairing, what's your thinking there?

“If anyone starts to get tired… Rocky’s not someone who’s played regularly for a long time and he had a long trip back from international duty. So, with three games in a week, he’s been tiring a little bit.

“Will has been outstanding. He took a knock on his calf on Wednesday night and I thought I was going to be taking him off early in the game against St Mirren. But he’s a tough kid and he carried on.

READ MORE: Hibs press conference analysis - Vente's 'knack', high ALF praise and defensive issues

“So, to have four centre-backs [is great], with Riley Harbottle as well, who unfortunately for just now has missed out on the squad but is pushing hard and training hard.

“You want competition for places everywhere and that’s why you have a good squad.

How is the squad looking for tomorrow?

“Everyone’s fully fit and raring to go and I’ve got the difficult task now of picking a team.

“I think you saw last weekend and in midweek, with the subs that came on in the second-half, that sometimes you’re more important coming off the bench than starting the game.

“It’s always about the full squad and I’ll pick a squad that’s in the best position to get a result against Dundee.

Is Jake Doyle-Hayes close to returning?

“He’s frustrated at the minute. He’s back fit but he’s still not 100 per cent ready to train. That’s a frustrating one.

“The physios and S&Cs are working hard to hopefully get him back on the grass soon. Then you can add another very good player back into the squad.

“But, right now, the boys are pushing hard and all fighting each other for spots in the team, which is nice."