Nick Montgomery says ‘top-class’ Emiliano Marcondes has lifted Hibs

Nick Montgomery heaped praise on January signing Emiliano Marcondes for helping Hibernian start to look like “a proper team” in recent weeks.

The 28-year-old Danish playmaker has impressed since joining on loan from Bournemouth and he notched his second goal in seven appearances during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw away to city rivals Hearts.

“Emi is a top-class player, he scored his goal and had another one cleared off the line in the first half,” said Montgomery.

“For someone who had not played for eight months, to speak to him and convince him to come here, to buy into what we’re doing, we can see the fans love him, the players love him – and he’s just a top, top player.

“He’s getting fitter every week in training and in games. He took a bit of knock in his first game at Kilmarnock, that set him back a bit. But you saw again against Hearts the quality that he brings.

“He’s also a guy who brings a calmness to the team. He really links up well with the front players. He’s been fantastic for us.”

Hibs lost their way through December and January and slipped into the bottom six of the cinch Premiership during a period when they lost four players to international duty and had several others injured.

However, the return of a batch of key men in addition to the recruitment of six new faces, most notably Marcondes, Myziane Maolida and Nathan Moriah-Welsh, appears to be bearing fruit, with the Hibees now unbeaten in their last four matches.

“Nathan is another player who came in during the window and settled really well,” said Montgomery.

“I think he covered every blade of grass at Tynecastle, won so many second balls. He was outstanding.

“I thought every player was outstanding, the guys on the bench as well. And the fans were great for us.

“Hopefully the fans come out in force and really get behind us for this last push, because I think they can see we’ve been building some good momentum in the last couple of weeks.

“The new guys are settling in and, since we got the boys back from international duty, I think you can see a proper team.”