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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
Sport
Mark Pirie

Rijeka boss in confident Hibs prediction as he insists home crowd can decide Europa Conference League clash

HNK Rijeka boss Goran Tomic insists his side will be much improved from the first leg against Hibs in the Europa Conference League.

With the Croatians holding Jack Ross ' side to a 1-1 draw at Easter Road last Thursday, Tomic reckons home advantage will be the key factor in their push for the group stage.

Rijeka led through a Prince Ampem strike against the run of play before Martin Boyle banged in a deserved leveller in a first-leg where they dominated play.

However, Tomic can only see one winner going into the second leg ahead of facing the Premiership side.

He said: “Hibs are a really good team so it will be another difficult match but we are now playing in our home stadium with our fans so I believe we can play a much better game than we did in the first leg.

“In all aspects of our football we can be better than we were in Scotland, when we are defending, when we are attacking.

“The result is still in the balance but I think with us now playing at home it will be much different.

“We studied Hibs for a week before the first game and we were prepared for how they played.

“Our defence was very compact but going forward we need to be better and attack more with the space.

“The tie is still open but we can be much better in all aspects of football.

"I was not surprised by the quality of Hibs because we had them watched. It will be tough but we will be at home in front of our fans and I believe we can go through.

“We should have imposed ourselves more on the game, we should have been deadly in attack.

“What annoyed me the most is you prepare for such a situation and then concede a goal in such a way.

“That shows that we were not one hundred percent yet.”

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