Running for second
PAUL HANLON says Hibs talked the talk and now they’re ready to walk all the way behind Celtic in the Premiership.
The Easter Road skipper has called on his team-mates to grasp the chance to end the season best of the rest as they bid to move to within a point of Aberdeen and Rangers.
Hibs took a step closer to the Light Blues with a 2-0 win over Partick Thistle at the weekend and they can move onto their shoulder with a victory over Hamilton tomorrow night.
Neil Lennon’s side are seven games without defeat in the league and haven’t lost since a narrow 1-0 reverse at Celtic in January.
Hibs were tipped at the start of the season to gatecrash the race for Europe on their return to the top flight but now they’re challenging for runners-up spot, Hanlon has demanded they not be overawed.
He said: “We’ve got to embrace this and enjoy it. The gaffer will always demand the best from us and as long as we’re in the hunt for second place we’ll be pushing as hard as we can.
“We did a lot of talking before we won promotion and said we were this and that, a good SPFL team and how we should be up in the top half of the Premiership.
“We’ve proved that this season and also that we can defeat anyone on our day. This isn’t a surprise to me. The goal was to cement top six as early as possible and push on.
“We’ve done that and now we’ve got to push the teams above us as hard as we can. Rangers are a massive club with greater finances and Aberdeen have been consistently second in the league.
“However we’re fully confident we can push them all the way.”
Lennon rarely accepted second best as a player and manager with Celtic where he won seven titles, five of them as a combative midfielder and two when he succeeded Tony Mowbray as boss.
He’ll acknowledge second place this time is an achievement to rank with any in his career at a time when Celtic’s financial dominance has taken them to the brink of seven in a row.
Hanlon said: “He’ll constantly push hard, that’s just within him.
“He’s used to being at the top of the game and he sees we can be up there challenging too. He’ll give his all to get us there.
“He came down at the end of the Thistle game and told us it was a good win but it was not an acceptable level of performance. We were delighted with three points but we were flat, especially in the first half.
“The performance wasn’t great but the win was massive.
“The gaffer has a pure passion to win. He fills us with confidence and makes us feel 10 feet tall. If you put in a great performance he gives you all the praise in the world, so we need to stay in his good books.
“His team talks are brilliant. He gets you so fired up before big games. It’s exactly what you need.”