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'We don't analyse opponents by the weather' - Hibs rivals in Euro plan reveal

· John Greechan · 2026-08-12T13:40:17+00:00 · nguồn gốc

Hibs Euro campaign hit by 'severe weather alert' - but rivals have own plan to crank up heat on visitors North Macedonians ready for Scots in UEFA Conference League third qualifying round Hibs will have to withstand dangerous temperatures and fired-up opponents if they’re to secure UEFA Conference League progress in scorching Skopje tomorrow night. And KF Shkendija boss Artim Polozani insists he’s not relying on a ‘severe weather alert’ to prove decisive – because his team can crank up the heat on the visitors in any conditions. Reacting to the official warning put in place for the North Macedonian capital, Polozani – his team looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg of their third qualifying round tie in Edinburgh – struck a bullish note as he assessed the challenge facing the host team, who play all of their European games at the National Arena Todor Proeski. Hibs won first leg 2-1 at Easter Road “We don’t analyse the opponents by how the weather will be,” said the former Macedonia international. “We are talking about a professional team and when you look at them you don’t count if it will be hot or if it will be raining; a good team can adapt in any weather. “Our analysis is that Hibs are a tough opponent. We have seen good things. “Can it be an advantage for us? Sure, it could be. But when you go into a game everyone has to give their best and not be thinking about how they will deal with the weather.” Rangers win selection issues David Gray made four changes to his starting XI as Hibs beat Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday. Asked whether that had given him pause for thought on what team the visitors might deploy tomorrow, Polozani insisted: “What we saw in the Hibs game against Rangers, they used different players in attack. The championship is a marathon but European games are about elimination. “Maybe the coach believed in the players who played that game or maybe he wanted to save the ones on the bench for this game? What you saw is they have a lot of quality. “It will be a hard game, for sure, Hibs are a tough opponent. The Scottish league is a high level, we can’t compare it to ours. “Hibernian are very well prepared physically and tactically. We know that we must give 100 per cent and fight for every ball, on every piece of the pitch, for sure, if we want to achieve our aim. “We want to get to the play-off, because then we will be one step away from achieving what we want – which is to repeat last season’s success by reaching the Conference League.”