What Hibs' Nick Montgomery had to say ahead of St Mirren tie

Are you a 'cup specialist' because of your experience in the A-League?

“In Australia, the end of the season is settled by the play-offs, which is exciting. We had eliminations and then semi-finals. Last year the semi-final against Adelaide was two legs, home and away. We won both games, home and away, to get into the final. Any knock-out competition is a good opportunity to progress. That’s what we’re focused on. This is a real opportunity, a quarter-final at home, a chance to get to a semi-final. No doubt St Mirren will come with the same attitude as us, to win the game. We don’t really change our approach, it’s still about just trying to win the game. There are no replays. Like at the weekend; trying to go for three points, if you end up with one point, there’s no way of getting those two points back. So it’s the same here. We’re trying to progress through to the next round. Ultimately, that’s all the game boils down to.

What's your experience of Hampden?

“I’ve been to Hampden a couple of times, although I haven’t played there and haven’t managed there. I watched the Scotland v England game there a couple of weeks ago and I thought the atmosphere was electric. A lot of booing! To see that stadium packed, the history the place has got, I will obviously do everything I can to experience that. That means concentrating on the St Mirren game at Easter Road, our stadium. Hopefully we get a good crowd because the boys are all looking forward to being there again. I never trained at Hampden, never played there, unfortunately. But it’s great that I have the opportunity to go there as a manager.

Can you use that as a carrot?

“I don’t want to make it about me not having been there, you know? But obviously quite a few boys have played there, they’ve had success there. There are boys in the squad who were successful at Hampden in 2016, so they know what it’s about. We’re professional enough to know that there’s no point in thinking about that until we can get a result on Wednesday. I don’t need to really dangle a carrot. Every player will be in this job to be successful and win things. Some players never do. They wait their whole career and never win a medal. We can use the experience of the boys who have won there. And, for the boys who haven’t done that yet, never played a big game there, it’s definitely an incentive – the chance to go and play at Hampden in a semi-final.

Hibs are a 'bigger' club than St Mirren, but does that count for anything?

“It’s not a factor. We know that Hibs is a big club – and that comes with a responsibility that players have to take on when they pull on the shirt. But the reality is, right now, they’re a bigger club than us. They’ve had a better start to the season than us. They’ve got more points on the board than us in the league competition, so I’m sure they’ll come here full of confidence. There are big clubs like Chelsea all around the world, clubs that spend huge amounts of money, but they’re struggling to get results at the minute. So that doesn’t really matter, what people think outside of the club. We can only concentrate on ourselves – and that’s a pressure, an expectation, that any player has to carry when they play at a so-called big club. We know that we’ve got a good squad. But we know they’ve had a really good start. So I’m sure they won’t be thinking that we’re a bigger club than them.”

How important has David Gray been?

"There's no higher accolade I can give him than I'm delighted he's my assistant. He's the DNA of the club, he's got so much history here and everyone has so much respect for him. For me to have a coach like him joining myself and Sergio [Raimundo, assistant manager] made the transition a lot easier.  He's got a lot of knowledge of the players and the club, but I think within two weeks we've become really close and formed a close bond. It's about trust, and I trust him 100 per cent, he trusts me, and that's really important for any coaching staff. I'm really happy with the staff here who I've inherited. To see the effort they put in on a daily basis and to have everyone buying in has been really nice, but David is such a humble, genuine guy. I count him as a good friend, and I've only known him two weeks, so I think that's the measure of the guy."

How well do you know St Mirren's Aussies Ryan Strain and Keanu Baccus?

"Yeah, they're both good players and it's great to see them doing well in Scotland.  I've followed them since they moved over here but it's irrelevant where they're from - in this game they're the enemy! But it will be nice to see them after the game. It's always good to see players who've been in a league where you have been before who have progressed so it's good to see them and a lot of the other Australian boys playing in this competition. They were both steady players in the A-League; to make that jump and transition to any other country is never easy, it always takes time to adapt, but both of them are competitive players in a competitive league so it doesn't surprise me that they've done well."

How's your squad looking ahead of the tie?

"It's looking stronger than it was on Saturday. Christian Doidge has had his stitches out which is good - that was quite a horrific injury, so I'm glad we didn't have any setbacks for him at the weekend. And Élie [Youan] was fine last week, his shoulder was a little bit sore but he's 100 per cent good to go now. Looking back on the game, you want your strongest players out there starting but I think with the squad we've got and the strength we've got, it's never about playing the same players every week. If there's any doubt or the player isn't 100 per cent then for me it's no risk because we've got players good enough to come in and replace them. To be able to bring strong subs off the bench as well is always good, especially late on when games are becoming stretched and the opposition is getting tired - to have players coming off the bench like we did at the weekend, and like we will against St Mirren, is what you want as a coach."

Was Élie beating himself up over his sitter on Saturday?

“It was a great move and just unfortunate the ball bobbled up. He could have taken a touch and passed it in as there was a spare player at the back post. But I’ll never have a go at anyone [for shooting] from there. Martin Boyle was unselfish on a few occasions and could probably have had a few assists. I’m sure he won’t be happy! Élie has been fantastic, he’s a massive talent, and he was very disappointed. But we won 2-0 and kept a clean sheet, so it wasn’t something you reflect on. Next time, head over the ball and just pass it into the goal.

How crucial has Martin Boyle been to your early work at Easter Road?

“Boyley is one of the best players in the competition, I don’t think anyone can doubt that. I saw him playing for the Australian national team and knew of him really well. He’s been a breath of fresh air. He can play anywhere across that front four. I’ve given him a bit of licence now to sometimes start on the left or on the right or up front. He’s really hard to play against because of his speed. He’s come off a really long injury, so it takes time, but if you look at him in the last two games he’s getting back to what he expects from himself. Definitely, there’s more to come from him. He’s unfortunate he’s not had a couple of goals and a couple of assists in the last two games. But if he keeps playing like he is, if I was a defender I would not want to play against Martin Boyle."

How much of a boost is it having a multi-lingual assistant in Sérgio Raimundo?

“My biggest strength is not speaking multiple languages! I met Sérgio many years ago and that was one thing that really impressed me about him. The way the game is, with the amount of foreign players in the game all over the world, to have an assistant who can speak six, seven languages definitely helps. Getting your point across, sometimes the way you want to say it and executing it in a different language is definitely more powerful. When I tell him to shout stuff on the pitch in French or German or Portuguese, I think it goes across a lot clearer than me shouting it in English. To have good people around you in the staff is something I always knew you needed. He’s an exceptional coach and to speak that many different languages, I don’t know how he does it.

What were your thoughts on the dugout camera at Saturday's game?

“We never knew that camera was there! Fortunately our behaviour was quite good and I think they cut out a lot of the swear words, which my wife was happy about."

You can be heard on the footage shouting instructions at Lewis Miller just before his goal. Are you claiming an assist for that?

“I like when Lewis is on my side because I can shout instructions at him. But for the goal, we know he’s so powerful, attacking and defending, and we’ve given him licence to get forward a little bit, like we did with Jordan on the weekend. We know they’re powerful attacking that back post area. So, I shouted, ‘Lewis’ and fortunately he heard me and trotted forward. It was a great ball from Joe and then a good finish from Lewis. I’m certainly glad Lewis heard me shouting from a distance."