Christian Doidge has fired a pre-season question to Lee Johnson after bagging a brace in yesterday's friendly for Hibs.
The towering striker was forced into a loan move away from Easter Road last season after finding game time hard to come by. Doidge has cut a frustrated figure during his time in the capital, with a goal return 21 in 86 appearances. The 30-year-old Welshman left the club for a spell at Kilmarnock in January but has returned to the fold with Hibs in need of a goal scorer following the departure of Kevin Nisbet to Millwall.
And yesterday he took his opportunity after being given minutes as Hibs ran out 4-2 winners against Edinburgh City. The Leith club had to come from two goals down at Meadowpark with Doidge playing a key role in the second half response. The big striker also set up Dan Mackay for Hibs to take the lead. Another fringe player Elias Melkersen also bagged a goal after returning from a loan spell in the Netherlands with Sparta Rotterdam.
Manager Johnson was left with a lot to be pleased about ahead of a warm weather training camp in Marbella.
The Hibs boss said: "I’m happy with the run out. I was looking forward to this game and to seeing how the young players blended with the senior players, and I thought the young players did extremely well, so I’m happy with that.
“We theme games like this so we can introduce elements of the philosophy that the boys can home-in-on without the pressure of points mattering; it was good to see. Even in the first half with us conceding two goals, which wasn’t ideal, there were numerous opportunities when we won the ball back, but then couldn’t execute the finish or find the final ball. Second half was pretty comfortable, and we spent most the time in their half.
“We scored four goals, it was great to see so many fans here, and we thank Edinburgh City for having us. It was an enjoyable day.”
Hibs will play Europa FC and Premier League outfit Bournemouth during their time in the Costa Del Sol as they gear up for the new season and their European challenge.
Johnson added: "We step up in opposition now facing FC Europa and Bournemouth in Marbella but there’s a lot of things that are positive at the moment.
“We saw the new players integrate; Alfie showed what he’s got, Obita was good, but what I like to see is the young players intermingling with the senior players. Pre-season opens up that pathway without fear.”
