Rocky Bushiri red card fails to aid Dundee as Hibs show graft to earn point with 10 men

Although the game was badly in need of an injection of life being reduced to ten men just before the hour mark was not the flash point desired by Hibs.

Defender Rocky Bushiri was shown a straight red card by referee David Munro after he caught Dundee midfielder Paul McGowan with a flailing arm.

Being handed such an advantage with still so long to go should have been the stimulus for the hosts to give their suffering fans a fillip but they tied themselves in knots trying to make the extra man count.

Hibs are proving themselves to be something quite unexpected under Shaun Maloney, such an attractive, watchable footballer. They are not the freewheeling Hibs. They are not the easy-on-the-eye Hibs. Not yet at least. Instead, they are grafters.

This was their second goalless draw in a row and, as against Celtic on Sunday, it should probably be regarded as a point won even though they drop a place to fifth. The 923 visiting fans certainly seemed to appreciate the efforts of their players although this applause came only after the expected volley of jeers directed at Munro. It did look a soft red card. It didn’t even seem to aid Dundee, who ran out of ideas in the end and were probably just as grateful for the point and clean sheet. Substitute Sylvester Jasper and Josh Doig could not covert late chances for Hibs.

Dundee were not helped in the creativity department when Charlie Adam went down injured shortly after the red card incident. The skipper was the home side’s sole source of creativity in a poor opening 45 minutes. For a spell it was 10 v 10 as Shaun Byrne made a delayed entrance. It seemed to suit Dundee better. The pressure of having the additional man appeared to faze them.

The pitch stood up well despite the pre-match