Judge us once season starts, pleads Hibs boss

HIBS boss Mixu Paatelainen admitted today that he can understand the supporters' frustrations at the club's poor pre-season results.

But the Finn insisted that he would be happy to suffer their wrath every summer – in return for a successful SPL campaign.

The Easter Road side have lost out to Barcelona, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Cowdenbeath and Clyde over the past few weeks as part of their build-up to the new domestic season and some fans have vented their anger at their manager.

But, while Paatelainen has shared the disappointment of defeats and a lack of goals, he reiterated his belief that Hibs will come good at the right time.

They face Kilmarnock in the SPL on Saturday and Paatelainen is confident that his side can prove their doubters wrong. He said: "I can understand the fans getting frustrated when their team is not winning. If results are not going your way then, of course, they get upset by that.

"I have been there, I know how that feels but we can't win every game – that doesn't happen, not for any team.

"And I am sure that the supporters would much rather we had a poor pre-season and then a very good SPL campaign.

"One thing that we have to remember is that we haven't played for points yet.

"Pre-season is about fitness and trying different things out and we've been up against opposition of a very high standard.

"This is the real start to the season for us and it is important
that we get all of the bits together. Sometimes when the season starts it is all about finding your feet, but I hope that we have already done that in the InterToto games and in the friendly matches that we have played in."

Meanwhile, Merouane Zemmama looks set to miss at least three weeks of the new SPL campaign as he battles back to fitness from a foot injury.

The little Moroccan broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot during a training session in April and missed out on the club's push for a UEFA spot.

Paatelainen warned that the midfielder is still some way from making his first-team return, saying: "

He is still a couple of weeks away from being able to return to training so he will miss the start of the season.

"He has been out now for quite a few months and so he will have to work on his fitness and match sharpness before he can think about coming back into the side.

"It is difficult to set any targets or a specific game that he can aim for because even after he comes back he will need a week or ten days of real training before he can think about playing again and even then he will have to play a couple of matches in the reserves to make sure that he is ready.

"He's a fantastic footballer though and, when he is available again, it will be like another new signing for us so, hopefully, it won't be too long before he is back in contention for a place."