Rocky surprised by red-card talk at break

ROCKY BUSHIRI admits he only realised Hibs were up against 10 men in Belgrade when boss David Gray mentioned it in his halftime team talk.

- BY ROSS PILCHER

The big defender had just blocked Milan Vukotic's effort on the line to keep the Hibees' Conference League third round qualifier first leg against Partizan goalless.

He was still down clutching his shoulder when Keiron Bowie was tugged back by Vukasin Durdevic, earning a second yellow for the Serb.

Martin Boyle's opener five minutes before the break only further angered Partizan's infamous fans and left the 10-man hosts with a mountain to climb.

Bushiri, though, didn't realise just how big Partizan's task was until halftime as Gray laid out the second-half battle plan that saw Boyle add a second from the spot.

Ant that put the Hibees firmly in control ahead of this week's second leg.