Hibs’ Head Coach Jack Ross insists that his players will go into tonight’s game against St Johnstone feeling good about themselves after two positive results against Dundee and Celtic.
St Johnstone arrive at Easter Road on the back of an eight game unbeaten run and he knows that they will need to be above average to take anything from the fixture.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference yesterday Ross said: “When we played at McDairmid Park it was a hard game and everything I’d seen in Callum’s (Davidson) side pre that game and since that I have had the opportunity to see them live as well. I think they are a good side. They play a really consistent system and style and they have shown recently that they are on a run but we go into the game feeling good about ourselves.
“Our record at Easter Road has been very good this season. There is an onus on us all the time when we play at Easter Road to be on the front foot and a lot of these games we have been. We’ve faced a lot of challenges, Saturday (against Celtic) being one of them.
“There isn’t an awful lot between the bulk of the teams in the Scottish Premiership and you see that on a weekly basis in terms of how the results go so we will have to play well to win the game tomorrow night. I don’t think we can get away with being average or below average.
“Callum is someone I’ve known personally for a long time and I think the progress he has made this season as a manager has been what I have expected so I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Despite taking a point against the champions, Hibs go into the game on the back of the disappointment of losing two late goals to deny them victory but Ross believes it is important to concentrate on the positives.
He continued: “Once that immediate emotion of disappointment of conceding so late subsides, they do take a step back and appreciate the good things they did within the game and why they put themselves in that position.
“That’s not discounting the disappointment at not winning the game in the positive we found ourselves in. But we stressed the importance of them not dwelling on it and, since they have been back in on Sunday morning and then again today there has been more evidence that they feel confident given how they played for large parts of the game.
“We’ve had a couple of bumps and we will get that again before the season ends but it the response that’s important and that response has been good.
“It strengthen my beliefs in the group. I have a lot of trust in them and thankfully to date they have repaid a lot of that trust as well.
“If we take the two games against the Old Firm at Easter Road in isolation, we have drawn both games 2-2. Because we come from behind against Rangers, there’s a different feeling after the game than Saturday. But you only earn one point in each of the games, the reality is that the reward is exactly the same.
“There were large parts of the game which were encouraging for us, particularly when we look at the two performances and results against Celtic. To learn from the first one and then play well and take something from the second game shows there is improvement as well.
“Although we spent more time without the ball than with it, and sometimes that points to you having to do more work, we also looked quite compact so in some areas of the pitch we maybe did less running than normal. But for me the players over the last two days have been good. They look bright, they look lively. I think they are in a place just now where they look forward to each game.”
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.
