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Inside Hibs Euro triumph: Load-bearing Lowe at No. 9, mature Miguel and an end to tomfoolery and shenanigans After drama-filled run to play-offs last season, control crucial for Scots Pressure has a way of revealing things about a team. Hibs are a case in point. Rewind a week or so and, depending on which dark mutterings you listened to, all sorts of nightmare scenarios were being imagined for David Gray and his men. Oh, all the things that could go wrong … Rangers win made history And now? History made at Ibrox. European progress secured. With a chance to make advances in the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday. When they needed to perform, they did. When they were required to grind out a result, they rose to the challenge. As for the main talking points from a sweltering night in Skopje, well, let’s dive right into the ice-cold plunge pool of post-match analysis. Emerging, hopefully, with heads cleared and eyes focused on the stuff that really matters. Leading the line There are times when the Hibs No. 9 jersey appears as if it’s hemmed with lead weights. Plenty have struggled under the burden of leading the line for the Easter Road club. In Nathan Lowe, the Edinburgh side may have unearthed a character equal to the mental and physical challenge. Whatever the kid lacks in technique, and there is still plenty to be worked on there, he does not want for work rate, intent or dogged determination to annoy the living nonsense out of every defender he sees. Time and again in the stifling heat of Skopje, against opponents who wanted to get the ball down and build from the back, carefully putting together their patterns of play, the big disruptor simply ran a wrecking ball through their best-laid plans. Yes, he should have scored. He definitely made the wrong choice once or twice. Taking his performance as a whole, however, this was a manful statement of intent from the striker. Miguel’s new role Ever since he arrived at Easter Road, the plan – at least in the eyes of gaffer Gray – has been for Miguel Chaiwa to become a proper No. 6. A defensive midfielder who can be trusted to shut down the main opposition threat. At 22, the Zambian international – persistently linked with a move to Celtic – has begun to show exactly why the manager saw that potential. Having made his name as an all-action ball of energy, he’s become an incredibly disciplined performer. Against Shkendija last night, he completely nullified the threat of home captain Arbin Zejnullai. Playing in front of the defence, a role he filled with distinction in Sunday’s win over Rangers, Chaiwa was outstanding. Control over chaos Last year’s European run was all about the mayhem, madness, shenanigans and tomfoolery. Hibs pushed every one of their three ties into extra time, losing out to Midtjylland and Legia Warsaw but emerging victorious from two games against Partizan Belgrade. We won’t pretend it wasn’t a lot of fun, at times. Everybody loves a bit of drama, right? But there is something to be said for the cool, calm, professional and controlled football that has helped Hibs into the UEFA Conference League play-offs this season. After they got the silliness of defeat to Malisheva out of their system in the opening game of the campaign, they’ve shown real signs of maturing. Destination Belgium It never ends, does it? Sunday will still be a tough test, with Partick Thistle rightly considered favourites to win the SPFL Championship this season. Then it’s off to Gent. Via Brussels, Charleroi, Paris … the details don’t really matter, as long as you make it in time for kick-off. The Belgians represent a step up in class. As you’d expect at this stage of European club competition. We’ll worry about that on Monday, shall we?