SIMON Murray is adamant he never lost faith in his ability to hit the net for Hibernian after highlighting Romelu Lukaku’s recent struggles in front of goal.
The 25-year-old kicked off the campaign in scintillating style following his summer switch from Dundee United, bagging 10 goals in his first seven fixtures for the capital club.
However, a barren period followed when he failed to trouble the scoresheet for two months, albeit he often had to be content with a place on the bench in that frustrating spell.
Murray’s derby-day winner against Hearts last month sparked a run of three goals in four matches, including a sensational volley against Dundee on Saturday to secure a 2-1 triumph for Hibs.
Murray, who now boasts 13 goals for the campaign, was not worried by his dry spell and says even Manchester United striker Lukaku can struggle.
He said: “People said I didn’t score in seven games, but I only played in four of those. Even Lukaku has gone through a spell of not scoring – and he is worth £100 million.
“I always knew it was going to come for me. If you keep working hard in training, you will always get your rewards, and that is five league goals and eight in the [Betfred] Cup now – it’s not too shabby.
“Like any striker, I’ll set myself targets to be as high up the goalscoring charts as I can, but the main thing is I’m doing my job for the team and we are winning matches.”
The aftermath of a fiery encounter was dominated by Neil McCann accusing Anthony Stokes of punching Jack Hendry “in the balls” and describing referee John Beaton’s decision not to send the Irishman off as “a disgrace”.
However, the Dundee manager did not absolve his side of blame after conceding a sloppy opener to Martin Boyle after 63 seconds then - having restored parity through Marcus Haber – allowing Murray to rattle home the winning goal.
“It was a shocking start, but we recovered well,” said McCann. “I’m so angry with the [second] goal we conceded because it’s something we’ve worked on. I’m furious.”
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