Grant Hanley is determined to finish the campaign in the most positive way possible across the remaining two matches.
Hibs recent victory over Falkirk at the weekend significantly increased the club’s chances of European football, and while it is still mathematically possibleto finish fourth in the William Hill Premiership table, destiny is out of Hibs own hands.
Despite that, Hanley reiterated that he and his teammates are focused on finishing the season as strongly as possible, starting with the visit to Rangers at Ibrox Stadum tonight.
“No matter how the season finishes or what happens, it’s important to try and keep that momentum going,” Hanley said at his pre-match press conference at HTC on Tuesday.
“Obviously, it’s been a wee bit up and down for us at times, but we’ve got two games to go, and our focus is on ourselves and finishing the season strong.
“At the start of the season I was involved in a few games for Hibs in Europe, and that was part of the reason for coming here, to be involved with a Club like this and have that challenge of European football, and that’s what we want to have achieved at the end of this season.
“We know that if we’re to catch Motherwell, we need somebody to do us a favour, but certainly from my point of view, it’s just about concentrating on what we can control and doing our job first and foremost.
“Of course, going into that last game of the season, we’re hoping there’s something to play for, but tomorrow will be a difficult game for us, and our goal is to go and get a result.
“I’m not really worried about what anybody else is playing for or what they’re trying to achieve.
“It’s about what we’re trying to achieve here, how we can affect that and what we can control, so we will make sure we’re prepared properly and ready for it.”
With the FIFA World Cup finals just around the corner, Hanley is also hoping to realise his own ambitions of representing his country this summer.
He added: “It’s been a wee bit of a stop-start [few months], but it’s nice to be back and hopefully get a wee bit of rhythm before the end of the season.
“I was keeping on top of things and trying to stay as fit and as sharp as I could so that when the suspension was over, I was ready to go again.
“I think that no matter what the situation is or the circumstances, it’s always the case that you need to be playing and playing well at Club level to give yourself the best chance [of getting called up].
“Clearly that was on my mind [during the injury], but these are circumstances you can’t change at times.
“My main focus at the minute is here because we’ve got a job to do, and we’ve got targets that we want to meet and goals that we want to achieve.
“So personally for me, it’s one day at a time, one session at a time, and trying to stay fit and trying to stay in the team.
“For me personally, that (the World Cup) is the end goal. We’re human at the end of the day, but you can’t look too far ahead of yourself.
“I think it’s human nature that if you’re not playing or you have been injured, you begin to worry about your place, but you have to take one day at a time and keep preparing like you always would.
“I think if you start looking too far ahead and you start worrying, that’s normally when you trip yourself up, so it’s important to try and simplify it and try and set shorter goals to keep yourself focused.”
