Hibs striker Derek Riordan tackled boss Hughes after being left on the bench

DEREK RIORDAN went hammering on John Hughes' door after being dropped to the bench at Fir Park, not to berate his manager but to demand he play in a closed-doors match at the club's training centre.

Only twice previously this season had the Scotland striker found himself out of Hughes' starting XI but on each occasion, the first Edinburgh derby and at Ibrox only a fortnight previously, his services were called upon.

So the visit to Motherwell proved to be a new experience for the 27-year-old as he found himself sitting idle for the entire 90 minutes. But despite the fact he filled the role of a mere onlooker as Hibs slumped to a third successive defeat in just six days thanks to Jamie Murphy's late goal for Motherwell, Riordan's only demand of his manager was a place in the team to play Partick Thistle in a "bounce" game three days later.

Today Hughes admitted he'd been delighted with the attitude shown by Riordan, revealing he won't be the only player to be disappointed between now and the end of the season as he adopts a "horses for courses" approach for the remainder of the season.

Faced with the prospect of playing on a pitch which came in for further severe criticism this week, Hughes picked his side accordingly only to have his plans blown off course somewhat by Liam Miller's red card after just 30 minutes.

The Hibs boss said: "I think Derek understood it wasn't going to be a silky football team which was going to play at Motherwell, it was a game in which we were going to have to dig in. He came banging on my door afterwards but only to ask that he be played in the bounce match which was the attitude you want to see as a manager."

Pointing out how the likes of Abdessalam Benjelloun, Merouane Zemmama, Patrick Cregg and Lewis Stevenson among others had been forced to contend with a seat on the bench or fewer starts than they may have anticipated, Hughes signalled there will be more of the same as he tries to secure third place in the SPL table.

He said: "Everyone is going to have a part to play, even coming off the bench you can go on and win the match for us."

While Dundee United have cut Hibs' advantage to a solitary point, Hughes revealed how he'll be leaving his players in no doubt that they are now coming to the "business" end of the season when winning is all that matters.

And rather than have his players consider there are still 12 matches remaining, Hughes will be insisting they concentrate on the seven which precede the split, recognising that points can be notoriously difficult to amass when the top six contest the final rounds of fixtures.

He said: "I feel there's no point looking at it as 12 matches. At the moment it's a case of splitting it down, trying to keep the focus short-term, looking at the games before the split and taking them one at a time.

"We have to roll up our sleeves, make sure we pick up as many points as we can. If not we'll be lying on the beach somewhere on our summer holidays regretting it."

While Hibs went into today's clash with St Johnstone seeking to end a run of three successive defeats, including a 5-1 hammering by the Saints, Hughes reiterated his faith in his players who have already surprised many by staying "best of the rest" for much of the season behind the Old Firm. He said: "I have great trust and belief in them, the boys have been absolutely fantastic. We've gone through a wee sticky time but I've been watching them, how they conduct themselves, how they go about things out on the pitch and looking at videos.

"I feel I know the answers, so it is up to me to pass it on to them. I said when I came in I had some wonderful players and that the manager's job was to instil the belief and spirit that they can go and play. I believe that even more so as manager it's up to me to keep instilling that winning mentality and letting them go and enjoy their football."