It’s vital we choke off the supply line to deadly Defoe
POTTER WARY OF VETERAN STAR’S PREDATORY POWER
GIVEN that he’s scored 27 goals and counting this season, Hibernian are scarcely likely to mourn the fact that Alfredo Morelos will be conspicuous by his absence at Easter Road tomorrow.
Serving his first suspension of the season after seeing red at Fir Park last Sunday, the striker’s ill-advised celebration has without question made an already taxing task in the capital for Steven Gerrard’s men that little bit harder.
Asked to choose between the free-scoring Colombian and the man who will replace him, though, and the Hibernian squad would find themselves on the horns of a dilemma.
As they capitulated 6-1 at Ibrox in August, Morelos’ two-goal display was upstaged by the hat-trick claimed by 37-year-old Jermain Defoe.
Short on opportunities of late, purely on account of the South American’s white-hot form, the former England striker will arrive at Easter Road with a point to prove and an appetite for the big occasion that’s undiminished by the passing of time.
‘We were actually just speaking to the staff about that game on Wednesday morning,’ Hibs assistant manager John Potter said. ‘Jermain was electric that day.
‘He is a player we’ve admired and we heard a lot about him when we were down at Sunderland. The staff down there raved about him.
‘We had a young player at Sunderland, Josh Maja, and he used to talk about some of the training he did with Jermain in terms of finishing practice, his drills and his work rate.
‘He is a top quality player, has been his whole career, and he scores goals. He always has. He’s probably a different threat to Alfredo Morelos, but someone who we will need to watch very, very closely and try to nullify.’
If Morelos is characterised by his strength and power, Defoe has survived at the top level for the best part of 20 years more through his nous and intelligence in the box.
While the Colombian would probably get the nod at the moment purely due to the torrent of goals he’s produced, only a fool would consider Defoe to be a second-rate replacement.
‘Morelos can create things by himself and from what I’ve seen, is a top quality player,’ added Potter.
‘He helps Rangers get up the pitch and he is quick, strong and direct. Jermain is a different proposition. But Rangers are the sort of team that has a lot of the ball, tries to create chances, and he is more than capable of getting on the end of those.
‘We’ve looked at that (6-1 game) a little bit. We’ve tried to do our homework on Rangers and make sure we are prepared thoroughly for the challenge on Friday.
‘They will create chances for him and if you are looking for someone to get on the end of those, he is as good as anyone. So we need to try to stop the ball from getting to him, stop the ball from coming into our box, because if he does get chances, there is a likelihood he will score. However, we need to concentrate on ourselves.’
To that end, Jack Ross feels there has to be an improvement on the way his players worked the ball in the final third at Celtic Park last Sunday. As commendable as the shape and style of the team was, too many promising positions came to nothing due to the wrong decision being made at the wrong time. If his side are to stand any chance of taking something from the other Glasgow side tomorrow, there will have to be a marked improvement. ‘Defensively, and in terms of our shape and frustrating Celtic, that bit was probably good,’ said Potter. ‘But in all of our other games in charge, we have controlled the ball a little better. ‘There were certain periods at Celtic Park where we could have kept the ball more, looked to go forward more and been careful in the final third. ‘We can definitely be better with the ball and I think we will be on Friday night.’ Sunday’s minor setback was not without its positives. Concurring with Ross’s view that the players they have inherited are of the required standard, Potter does not envisage major upheaval being needed in January.
The contrast with the chaotic situation they walked into at Sunderland could not be sharper.
‘Down there, we didn’t know what was happening, who was staying or going in terms of players and staff,’ Potter explained.
‘We felt we did a good job to get it to where we left it. Here, it’s a lot more settled in terms of staff. We could walk in and get started on doing what we do.
‘We’ve been quite impressed by everyone we’ve met so far here. We like the group we’re working with. We might make minor changes.’
Potter cut his teeth in coaching at post-administration Dunfermline. The task of dealing with £60,000-aweek players at the Stadium of Light presented a different challenge, but another that offered grist to his mill.
‘I’ve seen a bit of everything over the past four or five years,’ he smiled. ‘I learned a lot working with younger players being in administration. To then get the opportunity with Jack down at Sunderland was one extreme to the other. This might be a little bit more normal — we’ll see!’
Explaining why he turned down the chance to remain on Wearside, Potter admits the decision to work with Ross again in Edinburgh was not as straightforward as it might have looked.
‘It was difficult in terms of I really, really enjoyed my job down there,’ he said.
‘It’s a brilliant club with really good people. It can be a wee bit crazy at times, but it’s a really, really good club. But the opportunity to come somewhere like this and work with Jack again was really important to me.
‘It’s an opportunity I wanted to take straight away, as soon as it could be all sorted out. It got done reasonably quickly. To work with Jack again was kind of the main factor.’
Ross will assess Ofir Marciano’s calf complaint today before deciding if he’s in contention to play.