Hibs head coach Alan Stubbs hailed the strength and depth of his squad after a much-changed team eased past Championship side Alloa in a convincing 3-0 victory.
Danny Carmichael’s strike was sandwiched between a Martin Boyle brace as the Leith side kept up the pressure on Rangers at the summit.
Just five days after Tuesday’s memorable Scottish Cup replay win over Hearts and with the Wasps visit marking the start of an exhausting run of five games in 14 days, Stubbs made a total of seven changes on Sunday.
But Stubbs was pleased that the faith he showed in his fringe players paid off.
He said: “The most important thing was getting the three points. It makes it even sweeter when the lads who have come in make such a big contribution to the game.
“What that tells me is that what I’ve said all along is right. I’ve got a core of maybe 19 or 20 players who could all play in the starting 11.
“Normally your first-team squad is of 13 or 14 players – and the rest are there as squad players only.
“I can’t say that about this group, because they could all play in the team. Which is great.
“Because I know the players, I trust them; I know what they can do. That’s what makes it an easy decision when I do make changes.
“We’ve got a lot of games so we have to utilise the squad. When you look back now, they (the changes) were justified.
“I think we’ll have to make changes because we need the players a fresh as possible and whether we like it or not, five games in 14 days is a huge ask for anyone. And with that in mind, we will look to try and utilise the squad as much and as well as we can.”
