Friday 17 April 2015 17:05, UK
Hibernian boss Alan Stubbs believes his players have answered their critics following a deserved 2-0 victory over Hearts in the final Edinburgh derby of the season.
Despite producing similar performances in three previous games against Hearts since taking over at Easter Road, this was a first victory for Stubbs in the fixture.
Championship top scorer Jason Cummings took his tally to 17 for the campaign and Farid El Alagui scored in the final minute of regulation time to ensure Hibs remain ahead of Rangers in second spot on goal difference.
The win was a second for Hibs five days and banishes the run of defeats which saw them succumb to Rangers, Raith Rovers and Queen of the South.
And Stubbs is adamant his side have proved a point to those who believed Hibs were enduring a typical end of season "wobble".
Stubbs said: "Two weeks ago we were being questioned, people were asking if this was the wobble and 'was this Hibs' season ending again?' Football can change very quickly.
"I think the players have always answered the criticism. We've just had a couple of results where we didn't perform poorly, we were just on the wrong end of the result.
"We had opportunities towards the end of the first half to go further ahead and we put our bodies on the line to get blocks in when we needed to."
Stubbs reserved special praise for El Alagui, whose composed finish secured the points and was his first goal since August, having spent seven months out of action after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon against Alloa.
The Hibs manager feared he had lost the player for the entire campaign, having seen a similar injury to Yakubu while he was on the coaching staff at Everton.
"I'm absolutely delighted for him. He has had a really tough seven months, with a horrendous injury. I don't think people understood just how bad the injury was and the fact he is back playing now is all credit to him," Stubbs said.
"I saw one with Yakubu at Everton, which was very much the same injury, and he took him much longer in terms of rehab to come back. I think Farid is only going to get better, he is still not where we would like him to be.
"He needs more strength and speed put into him, but he will get that by playing games and working on his programme."
Hearts counterpart Robbie Neilson lambasted his players for a lack of desire after suffering a second league defeat in their last three outings - having lost just one of 30 previously.
Describing the performance as "unacceptable", he has demanded nine points from the champions' trio of fixtures to end the season against Raith Rovers, Cowdenbeath and Rangers.
Neilson said: "I felt the desire wasn't there. They all should be sticking to the high standards they've set. The hunger just wasn't quite there today and that's the most disappointing thing.
"We've lost two in three - and it's not acceptable. I spoke the truth about it to the players. It has to be better. You play for Hearts and it has to be better.
"I thought Hibs did all right, I didn't think they were outstanding. We let them win the game, as opposed to anything else. Previous games we've been the dominant team and we have to get back doing that again."
"To be fair, our players have done it all season - but the last two weeks haven't been good enough. It's not acceptable when you play at Hearts.
"Next season we're going to places like Parkhead, Tannadice, Pittodrie. Big venues against big teams and we have to perform better than that."
