Hibernians goalkeeper and captain Mario Muscat, despite being subjected to all kinds of insults from the City fans, paid tribute to Valletta after the 2-2 draw at Ta’ Qali on Friday night.

He said: “I was not affected by the citizens fans’ behaviour towards me. Such insults do no good to anyone and not even to the game. After all, I must admit that Valletta deserved their equaliser. They also had their good moments in the game and neither team deserved to lose.”

Asked whether it was a case of a point won or two points dropped after Valletta’s late equaliser, Muscat said that the Paolites clan was happy with the point earned.

Muscat said he was disappointed only at the fact that they conceded the two goals from set-pieces. “We should be very strong in that department considering the ability of newcomer Matt Clarke. I think we should have played better in that sector, but overall, I think we continued where we left last week. The difference in the team over the past season is certainly the foreign players. We now have four very good and hard working players and they have certainly contributed towards our improvement,” he added.

Muscat said it was still early to talk about winning the title. “Our main aim is to make sure of a Championship Pool place first. Then we will start talking about the title, especially if we are still in a challenging position. But we will have to work hard in the first phase,” he said.