Brian McDermott says he has the 'utmost faith' in Nick Montgomery to return success to Easter Road.

The Hibs director of football's mission is to create a 'winning culture' at the club, and believes the right man is already in place in the dugout to deliver it. McDermott led Reading to an unlikely promotion to the Premier League during his managerial career, and the 62-year-old is applying the same principles to his work at East Mains.

In an interview with BBC Radio Berkshire, McDermott explained the key elements behind realising his vision for Hibs.

“We used to speak about the Reading way, back in the day,” he said: “What is the Reading way? It was having good people in the building, having solid, strong, good characters who wanted to play for the football club. Not doing crazy deals and making sure we stayed, as much as we could, in the black. And working together as a group.

“It’s not rocket science. And that’s what we’re trying to create up here, really. And that’s what we’re doing. On the pitch, the only show in town is trying to win the next game. That’s what we do up here.

“I’ve got the utmost faith in the manager. He’s a really good young manager coming through.”

This month, McDermott is working to deliver new recruits to help bolster Hibs' stretched squad. A combination of long-term injuries and players on international duty at AFCON and the Asian Cup have created an urgent need for reinforcements.

But as talks take place with potential targets, McDermott is keen not to distract Montgomery from his day-to-day work with the current group. He spoke of the 'absolutely incredible' detail underpinning the manager's methods on the training pitch, and says part of his role is to ensure Montgomery is not dragged away from that.

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McDermott said: “All I say to Nick is: ‘Look, do the best you can to work with the players you have. Get us a result on the Saturday, the best result you can – and then we’ll move on to the next game.’

“I watch what he does. His training is really good. It’s methodical. The detail is absolutely incredible, what these guys do. So my role is probably what most clubs need, an older figure or experienced figure who can keep the other stuff away from the coach and manager, deal with the stuff the manager doesn’t need to deal with.

“I’m still enjoying the opportunity to work at this level. I enjoy trying to be part of a really good environment and really good culture. That’s what we had at Reading from 2000 to around 2012-ish, when we got into the Premier League. A good culture. That’s what I enjoy, bringing people together and trying to be part of a team. I love that.”