Every word from Nick Montgomery's Hibs Q&A after Hearts draw

Was that a good outcome in the end?

"It was definitely a good outcome in the end. I thought it was a game of two halves. I thought they were a lot better than  us in the first half but in the second half we were the better team. So, 2-0 to them in the first half would have been a fair result or 2-0 to us in the second.

"I was very disappointed in the first half and the way we played and I told them that it wasn't good enough. We talked about the emotion of the game during the week but I think a few too many got caught out with that emotion and they dealt with it better. But they are at home, it’s a derby and they landed on every second ball.

"We were a little bit slow to move the ball in the first half and although it was really wet, the grass seemed long and the ball wasn’t moving as quick as we expected but we took too many touches and turned the ball over cheaply. That is something we're not done in  the last couple of weeks so I was disappointed with that. I told them in the second half they had to go out there and fix it and I thought they did.

"Their second goal came against the run of play but even at 2-0 I felt we could get back in the game and at the end of the game we had a couple of chances. Joe Newell had a great chance and Boylie just couldn't get the ball out from his feet but all in all, both goalkeepers had some good saves, there was some desperate defending from both teams.

"There were frantic periods in the game and the fans of both teams were great. I am definitely happy with the end outcome but I wasn't happy with the first half.

You must be happy with your start as manager?

"We have had some good momentum but now there is a two-week break. This week was really only the second week that I had time with the boys on the training ground. Now i'm really looking forward to this time.

"There are a few boys away on international duty and a couple of boys recovering from niggles today but the rest can get back on the training ground and we will have a game next weekend for the boys who need some minutes o we will use these two weeks to our advantage ahead of a big game at Ibrox in two weeks time.

Did the second-half show why you can be hard on Élie?

"Look, Élie is a fantastic player and he could play at a higher level, no doubt. But he has to be more consistent and I told him that at half time. I needed more from him because he is a player who can win you games of football and I thought his reaction in the second half was good. But he wasn't on his own.

"There were too many who weren't good enough in the first half and Élie was one of them but I asked him to step up and he did. He scored two goals but we need that from him for 90 minutes and not just 45. If the game was only 45 minutes he would be playing in the Champions League. 

"That is something Élie has to face. He is a young player with bags of ability and that is normal. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to really get that consistency but there is no doubting his ability. He is a fantastic player and he is a good lad and it is about managing. The second half he reacted really well, and I am really happy for him that he got two goals and we go away with a deserved point in the end.

"I didn't think we got forward as quick as we could and we were not picking up second balls so the ball is going to come back every time and they caught us on the counter-attack but second half we controlled the game better.

Were you close to taking him off?

"I gave him ten minutes and he showed me the reaction I wanted. He stood up big. When it calmed down, we controlled the game a lot better and were finding passes. The pace we have going forward was something we didn’t utilise in the first half. We later had a lot more positive attacks going forward and that was us playing our game instead of being sucked into the emotion and knocking it long. You have to compete and we didn’t compete well enough in the first half. In the second half, we were very good.

Even at 2-2, you were still urging the team forward, is that kind of demand you are putting on them?

"I didn't think we got forward as quick as we could and we were not picking up second balls so the ball is going to come back every time and they caught us on the counterattack but second half we controlled the game better. People talk about the emotion of the derby all week and I thought they probably handled that a little bit better than us the start of the game. But at the start of the second half we settled down and cause them a lot of problems. I’m sure Stevie [Naismith] will be disappointed and I’ve been disappointed as well because I think either team could have won the game. To go away with a point is a good reflection of the game.

How is David Marshall?

“He’s okay. He took a goal kick and cramped up. He took no risk and it was a good chance for young Max [Boruc] to come on and keep a clean sheet. He didn’t really have much to do but that will be a big moment for him and he’ll learn from that experience.

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“The last thing you want is your number one goalkeeper going off with ten or 15 minutes to go in a derby. David has been fantastic for me since I came in. If he’s going to get a little niggle, it’s probably now. We have two weeks to get him ready for Ibrox."