Jack Ross will return to one of his former clubs tonight as his on-form side take on conquerors of Hearts, Alloa Athletic, with a place in the semi-final of the Betfred Cup at stake.
Ross started his managerial career at the club and retains an affection for them but he is determined to book a another visit to the national stadium although he anticipates a tough test.
Hibs have scored seven goals in their last two games against Motherwell and Hamilton Academical without conceding and Ross is happy that his players are in a good frame of mind ahead of the game.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference yesterday Ross said: “Alloa are a brilliant club and were hugely important in my managerial career and I can’t speak highly enough of them as a club.
“I still speak regularly with a lot of people at the club. I was over at one of their matches recently against Stenhousemuir so I know how difficult a match it will be.
“It doesn’t surprise me that they produced the kind of result like they did in the last round (beating Hearts). There is a still a number of players there who I signed, so I am familiar with them while they have a very experienced and capable coach and manager in Peter (Grant).
“It’s a difficult tie for us but the great thing is we’re going in to it in a very good frame of mind given what’s happened in recent games.”
“We have to go and play in the same manner as we have done away from home and we will travel with a group of players who are full of belief.
“It’s a really big game for us in terms of the prize that’s at stake and we have been focussed on it since the final whistle went at Hamilton on Saturday.”
Hibs have a great chance of progressing to the final particularly that Celtic, who have won the last 11 major trophies were eliminated by Ross County and Aberdeen were knocked out by St Mirren.
He continued: “There are still some good teams left in the competition. We’ve said consistently that these cup competitions offer us that realistic chance of achieving success.
“We had the disappointment of going out at the last four stage of the Scottish Cup albeit fairly recently but progress in this tournament has been good to date so it’s another opportunity for us to progress further and try to go and win it.
“When you get to semi-finals and finals and you fall short it is painful and does hurt, but I said in the aftermath of that game you have two choices. You keep putting yourself in those positions and you will get the enjoyment and the success or you just bob around and never get near it.“
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.
