Jack Ross admits it’s always hard to leave Christian Doidge on the bench, even when he isn’t scoring.
The Welsh striker was a second half sub for Hibs as they beat Motherwell 3-0 at Fir Park yesterday to go third in the Scottish Premiership table.
Doidge hasn’t started since the 2-0 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie in early November, but came on to double the Easter Road side’s lead with just a minute of normal time remaining.
Stephen McGinn then scored his first goal for the club deep into stoppage time to seal an impressive away win for the Hibees.
It was Doidge’s first league goal since September, and while Ross admits that when he isn't scoring, criticism is always likely to come his way.
But he explained that the work the former Forest Green Rovers man does aside from finding the net makes it a tough call not to start him.
“It’s always incredibly difficult for me not to pick Christian in my teams because he’s been brilliant for me,” he said..
“His contribution to the team is not always obvious. If he’s not scoring, then people say so but he does unselfish work.
“So it’s difficult but also added to that, he’s trained brilliantly this week.
“The one thing I;'d never have in any question is his attitude when he comes on to play and he was right at it when he came on. He looked sharp and fit and I’m delighted he got his reward with his goal because it’s been a little bit frustrating for him in front of goal recently.
“So I’m really pleased for him.”
Ross also had praise for Jamie Gullan, who made a big impact off the bench to set up McGinn's goal and is now knocking on the door for a starting berth after recent displays.
“He’s in a good place at the moment,” Ross told Hibs TV. “It’s about constantly cajoling and encouraging him to grow in belief and believe he’s a good player that belongs at this level.
“He’s training really well at the moment and in the games we’ve had he’s been really impressive.
“Yesterday wasn’t easy to come on at that time in the game with it being finely balanced, but he was terrific in everything he did. Really, really good. He looked sharp, strong and his decision making was good.
“Jamie’s a good player and he’s growing with us as well. You forget he’s still a young man but it’s encouraging for us as a club that we’ve got young players of his age making a contribution to us winning games.”
