Hibs’ Head Coach Jack Ross is aiming to replicate the start to the season for the remainder of the campaign after finishing the first round of fixtures in fourth place.
Hibs travel to Rugby Park today to face fifth place Kilmarnock who have been on a run of good form in recent weeks and Ross is encouraged by the way the season has gone so far.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference he said: “It’s been hugely encouraging for us in terms of the points total we have at this stage. If we were to replicate that over the course of a season we would be in a very good position come the end of it.
“It’s easier said than done to do that but I think it’s also given us a good gauge of where we feel we can be at. It’s given the players an opportunity to judge themselves as well and so there’s been a lot of encouragement from the first set of fixtures for us.
“The aim is now to at least replicate that, if not better it, over the next set of fixtures that come around.
“There has been some improvement from us. We have been good. It’s not as if we have underperformed. I think we have managed to win games in different ways as well. We have picked up points by playing well and probably gathered points when we weren’t.
“We have our own targets for blocks of fixtures and by achieving those targets shows we have had a successful season and we had to make that achievable. I think we are quite happy with regard to where we wanted to be.”
Ross is happy with the contribution of his two strikers who have quickly gelled as a partnership.
He added: “It’s not that common to play with two strikers and we have had to be brave to play that way but it’s worth doing it because of the attributes the two of them have and the way they play together.
“Christian is incredibly unselfish in his work and he helps other players around him. His presence has helped Kevin settle so quick. I didn’t realise that Christian had that milestone close (99 goals) and if he were to go and achieve that tomorrow it would be fantastic for us in terms of the game but also terrific for him as a player to reach that milestone as well.”
Ross also revealed that Jamie Murphy will miss the game due to injury, but has youngster Josh Doig back in contention adding: “We have no fresh injuries so we are exactly where we were last week with the exception of the return of Josh Doig who was released from his quarantine period on Thursday so he has only had a short time back with us but he will return to the squad.
“Scott Allan and Jamie Murphy who missed Tuesday night are still absent but everyone else is fit.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
