Hibs attacker Myziane Maolida insists the Capital club knew not to take Inverness Caledonian Thistle lightly in their Scottish Cup fifth-round tie, despite the difference in league placings between the two teams.

The hosts kept their Scottish Premiership visitors at bay in the first half but the on-loan Hertha Berlin forward scored early in the second period before Martin Boyle added a second and substitute Élie Youan a third, with Aaron Doran snatching a late consolation for Duncan Ferguson’s side.

Speaking after the game Maolida, who now has two goals in five games for Hibs, said he was satisfied with passage through to the next round, with Rangers visiting Easter Road for a place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.  

“I’m very happy with the result. We knew this was a very important game for the team and I’m happy we managed to come back with the win,” he told HibsTV. 

“These types of games are never easy because they want to prove that they can beat a higher-ranked team, but we were aggressive and took the game seriously.

“The first half was a little bit difficult because we didn’t have too many clear-cut chances but I think in the second half we were more aggressive, we made more runs, and we tried to find a solution and we scored some goals so the second half was better.”

Maolida arrived from Germany having been cast out to Hertha’s second-string team in the regional leagues and despite manager Pál Dárdai’s comments about the former Nice and Lyon youngster being ‘lazy’, he has so far added something positive to the Hibs attack.  

“I’m just trying to play my game and enjoy it, and I feel very good as part of this team. I’m very happy with how things are going and I want to keep it going,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Hibs academy midfielder Jacob MacIntyre has been forced to pull out of the Scotland under-19 squad for two friendly matches against Latvia and Turkey in Umag, Croatia this week. The 18-year-old, capped twice at under-19 level and five times for the under-17s, hasn’t long returned from another injury lay-off but will play no part in Billy Stark’s plans for this international break.

Fellow academy midfielder Rudi Molotnikov and defender Rory Whittaker were called into the squad and both started in Tuesday's 1-0 defeat by Turkey, with Molotnikov winning his fifth cap at under-19 level and Whittaker making his debut. The 16-year-old right-back had been called up to previous camps without getting any minutes.

Both Molotnikov and Whittaker have played first-team games and been part of Nick Montgomery’s senior squad over the last few weeks and they were joined in the starting line-up by former Hibs academy forward Ethan Laidlaw, now of Brentford, who added to his own cap tally after appearing in two matches against Wales at Colliers Park in Wrexham in March last year.