Hibs' mystery man gets thumb up from Sauzee

HIBS boss Mixu Paatelainen today revealed how former Easter Road star Franck Sauzee has given the mystery trialist who played against Middlesbrough the thumbs up.

Paatelainen turned to his former team-mate and Hibs manager after the player, who he admitted was French but again declined to identify, was recommended to him. And the message from Sauzee was he believed the player could be a star for his old club.

As a result, the forward was given a chance on Saturday, replacing Alan O'Brien at half-time. He played a part when he provided the pass for Steven Fletcher to claim his second goal in what turned out to be a 3-2 defeat as the Tees-side outfit fought back with three goals in a devastating period.

Paatelainen, however, admitted the trialist didn't play as well as he believes he can and now the player will be given another chance to impress in Hibs' final pre-season game against Wigan at Easter Road tomorrow night.

He said: "He can do better, I am positive he can, and hopefully tomorrow he will show an improvement.

"I have done my homework on him, I've spoken to various people about him, including Franck, who said he believes he could be a very good player for us.

"It can be difficult for a trialist coming into a club with different players around him and a totally different environment. The player in question hadn't played a game up until Saturday and, in fact, has only been training for ten days, so he is a bit behind everyone else.

"We'll let everyone know who he is if he signs for us."

Paatelainen plans to make a few changes to the side which faced Middlesbrough for tomorrow's match, with skipper Rob Jones, who took a knee in the back from Egyptian striker Mido, taken
off suffering from "tight" hamstrings.

Teenage full-back Paul Hanlon missed out at the weekend after falling ill while midfield star John Rankin failed to make the 18 as did Brian Kerr who has not, according to Paatelainen, been told he is not good enough for Hibs despite newspaper reports to the contrary.

The Hibs boss said: "We will use a lot of substitutes tomorrow night although we didn't make many changes against Middlesbrough.

"It's the Tuesday before the season starts and we want to make sure plenty of players get the chance to show what they can do while we also ensure others don't play too much so they are fresh for Kilmarnock on Saturday.

"Paul was up all night before the match unwell. He was feeling terrible but came to the ground to be assessed and was sent home before the rest of the squad arrived."

Paatelainen will be keen to see how the 18-year-old shapes up against Steve Bruce's English Premier League side with Ian Murray, who slotted in at left-back on Saturday, suspended for the trip to Rugby Park, a consequence of being sent off for a trip on Celtic's Aiden McGeady.

Having endured a problematical pre-season in which Hibs haven't won a game, Paatelainen was encouraged by his side's performance – at least for the first 70 minutes against Middlesbrough – proof, he insisted, that everything would fall into place in time for the new SPL season as he had declared on many occasions.

He said: "We have the ability, the fitness, the tactical knowledge, it's all coming together. The time to show it is when the league season starts, when you are playing for points.

"There were plenty of positives from Saturday but also stuff we can improve on which, hopefully, we will do."