Every word from Hibs boss Nick Montgomery's pre-Aberdeen Q&A

Did you see any of Aberdeen's game in Helsinki?

"I was enjoying trying to see where the lines were, it looked pretty fun towards the end - end to end and both teams making mistakes. The conditions weren't ideal but I was watching that game and flicking through the channels watching the other European games. It’s about watching as much football as possible.

“I don’t think it would have been ideal [if the game had been abandoned] but it finished at the end of the day and it was a game of two halves. I’m sure they will look back on the journey in European competitions, they scored goals and went up against some good teams."

Any concerns playing Rory Whittaker at right-back with Lewis Miller suspended?

"There are no concerns, I’ve not decided on how exactly I’m going to go with the team but I have full trust in Rory, he’s already had plenty of experience, coming on in some big games, semi-finals, Ibrox, against Celtic.

"The kid is developing every day, he is training with the first team every day, as are three or four other young players. There are no issues whatsoever in throwing a young player in and that’s the reason why they train with the first team, to try and accelerate them and teach them what it takes to play first team level.

“Working with young players, they’re honest and they do whatever you tell them. Sometimes they do the wrong things but that’s how you learn, you make mistakes and that’s how you learn. I really enjoy working with young players, older players but you know with young players you are going to get that enthusiasm, energy. Sometimes it’s about curbing that, calming them down a bit and letting them know it’s still the same game. 

“It’s a case of educating them but they learn from experience but the fact is that not every young player can cope with the pressure of playing in a stadium or on television, whatever it is. Some can and Rory is definitely one of them that can."

Do Hibs enjoy playing Aberdeen? 

"We like playing against everybody! In the semi-final I thought we performed really well, I was really happy with the performance and I thought we didn’t get the result we deserved but that’s football. It hurts for a bit but you move on, it’s in the past.

"I’ll look forward to watching the final but I’ll look at it thinking it could have been us, that’s the same for any manager or player that gets to a semi-final. If anything that makes you more determined next time."

How important is it having your family here at last?

“Yeah I’m hoping they’ll be there on Sunday to sample Easter Road. It’s obviously great to get the family over. It's been two and a half months without them. They’ve had a couple of days of jet lag and now they’re settling into life in Edinburgh and getting to know the area.

“The kids are really excited, they have already got their Hibs tops, they’ve been following the club from Australia since I got the job. Now I’m really looking forward to bringing them to the stadium. It’s been two and a half months of them sorting stuff out and my wife looking after the kids. Now it’s up to me to put them to bed and stuff - I think I have watched the Minions film 12 times already!

“It’s great to have them over. Now it’s just Sérgio’s wife and daughter in the next couple of weeks and all the families will be here, which is nice."

Does family give you perspective after a bad result, for instance?

“Always, but one thing in this job is any manager will tell you it’s hard to switch off because you’re always thinking about the next day and the next game. One thing you try and do is go home and be a dad and sometimes the hardest thing to do is switch off.

“But my wife is pretty good with that and sometimes takes the phone off me! You sometimes need that balance, because it’s not easy."

Dylan Vente is annoyed he's not scoring but have you been happy with him?

“To be honest I didn’t realise it had been nine games since he’d scored a goal because I just see the effort he puts in, the assists, the way he works for the team, so I have no doubt goals are going to come for him because he is such an honest player, he is so unselfish.

“You see his assists the last couple of weeks, now he hopes someone will assist him! But if he’s creating goals for other people he’s doing his job for the team. He’s a natural finisher, and I know strikers like him go through spells.

“What’s important is that he doesn’t become selfish and try to break that cycle and score himself. If there is someone in a better position then Dylan will always pass it and we have seen that. He probably could have scored a couple more if he was more selfish.

“But he’s selfless and he works his socks off for the team so hopefully he’ll carry on what he’s doing because he’s been a fantastic player since I joined the club."