Hibs boss remains hopeful

Paatelainen upbeat despite Intertoto defeat

Last updated: 6th July 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hibs boss remains hopeful

Paatelainen: Euro hope

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Mixu Paatelainen is refusing to give up on Hibernian's European dream despite their 2-0 defeat by IF Elfsborg in the Intertoto Cup.

The Swedish side enjoyed much the better of the second round, first leg match at Easter Road and are well placed to progress ahead of Saturday's return leg in Boras.

Elfsborg are currently second in the Swedish league with their season well under way, while this was Hibs' first competitive action after barely a month off.

Emir Bajrami and Andreas Augustsson were on target either side of the interval to seal the victory, but Paatelainen is refusing to give up hope of reaching the third round as his men seek a backdoor entry into the Uefa Cup.

Knowledge

The Finn said: "It was exactly what I had expected. Make no mistake, we're disappointed but we expected this.

"That's why we are in this competition, because we wanted tough, competitive fixtures straight away.

"Now we're getting them, we'll get plenty of positives from this game, we'll learn a lot and analyse the game.

"It was visible today which team was ready to play and we all knew that. Next week we're a little bit better off for match fitness and knowledge.

"We can score over there, absolutely. We'll try our best to turn it around and we'll go there to try and win the game. If we score three goals and don't concede, we go through.

"We want to do as well as we can but it will be tough again. But we'll be better off."

Not over yet

Opposition manager Magnus Haglund felt his team should have scored more.

He said: "It was a good start to the two matches, 2-0 at Easter Road is a very good result for us.

"Actually, we could have scored even more in the second half but of course I'm happy with this win.

"The first half was close, a tight game. Hibernian had a lot of energy but I expected them to get a little tired in the second half.

"We had a lot of energy and created a lot of chances in the second half.

"But the job is not done yet. We have 90 more minutes to go in Boras and Hibernian are such a good team so they could score a couple and equalise. Then you don't know what happens. It's not over yet."