HIBERNIAN skipper David Marshall has paid a glowing tribute to Easter Road defender Marijan Cabraja for playing in the cinch Premiership match against Rangers at the weekend just days after the sad passing of his father.
And the Scotland internationalist has predicted the way the Hibs players rallied around their summer signing Cabraja following his bereavement will help to bring the entire squad closer together.
The Croatian left back dropped to his knees and broke down in tears on the pitch following the 2-2 draw with the Ibrox club in Leith on Saturday and needed to be comforted by his team mates.
Hibs goalkeeper Marshall was taken aback by the bravery the former Dinamo Zagreb defender displayed after replacing Paul Hanlon in the first-half of what was an often bad-tempered match.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “He spoke to the lads in the dressing after the game and it was pretty emotional. To be honest, I can’t believe he played. I think he just got back to the club on Friday. So it was a very emotional dressing room and it puts everything into perspective a wee bit.
“He has been superb since he came to the club. But to go back and have to deal with that bereavement and then come back to the club and be thrown on like that and play the way that he did . . . fair play to him.
“I didn’t notice that (Cabraja breaking down after the final whistle). But of course he was emotional. He came in and shook everyone’s hand. We all had a chat and it was a very emotional moment.
“He thanked the boys. We just did little things like send him messages and such. He was thanking the boys, but we should actually be thanking him, because we never expected him to be anywhere near the country. But he did amazingly well.”
Marshall added: “It’s a new group we have at the club, a great group, and I think he has taken to it. He is a fans’ favourite already, the way he plays, the way he launches himself into tackles. He’s got a bit of spirit about him, so he’ll be fine.
“It has been a tough moment for him, but I’m sure he’ll get back home and get around his family for a few days. We will certainly try to do what we can to help him.”
Asked if he believed the backing the Hibs players had shown Cabraja and the late fightback that earned them a draw against Rangers would prove important for them going forward, Marshall said: “I think so, yes.
“We’ve scored late in a lot of games and against nine men you are obviously going to have chances. But little things like that can do that. We are growing as a group and I think we will get better. Obviously Marijan is a big part of a new group.”
Meanwhile, Marshall has revealed that Paul Hanlon and Ewan Henderson had no issues being replaced by Cabraja and Christian Doidge respectively after just 28 minutes of the Hibs game against Rangers at the weekend.
“He (manager Lee Johnson) expected more from us in the first half,” he said. “He felt as if we should have been doing better, especially being at home. I know we were against Rangers, who are a top team, but we should be taking the game to them more.
“The manager decided to switch it and it certainly worked. Yes, maybe playing against nine men takes away from that a little, but in the first 10 minutes of the second half you could tell it was a different Hibs. So fair play to the manager.
“I think everyone understands what the manager wants. If you had asked any of the players in the first 25 minutes how the game was going they would have told you that it wasn’t going well enough. We understood that. We changed our shape to a back three and it wasn’t working.
“The lads know if it isn’t working there might be that change. I don’t think it was a personality thing too much, at all really. It was just to get pressure upon Rangers in different areas. It was more formation change.
“The manager has told us the way he works. He has changed it a lot in games, even pre-season games. The lads are getting used to that. It is a nightmare for me trying to tell people who to pick up and who to put in the wall when he makes two changes in the first-half! But it is fine.”
