Hanlon: We are hungry for shot at cup again
PAUL HANLON will spend this week retelling old Hibs war stories in a bid to get his team-mates fired up for their Scottish Cup semifinal shot.
The Easter Road defender is a veteran of the 2016 win over Rangers and he will recall that guts and glory of an afternoon that ended a 114-year wait to get their hands on the trophy.
Despite preparations for Saturday’s clash with Dundee United being disrupted by defeat to St Johnstone, Hanlon is adamant it will have no bearing on their bid to book another cup final appearance.
He said: “A lot of the boys who join the club, especially ones who have come up from England, ask a lot of questions about 2016. I’ll be trying to give them a taste of what it was like.
“They’ve seen videos and photos, so they like to ask me about it. They are interested and hungry to sample it for themselves.
“The hunger and desire is there in the dressing room, we just need to pull it all together at the weekend.
“If it takes another penalty shoot-out, that’s what it takes.
“But hopefully we win this one in 90 minutes.
“Every year, we’ve put ourselves in a position to go on and have a really successful season.
“We’re disappointed not to have sealed third place but our focus now shifts.
“That’s the way it has to be for the next few weeks, fighting on both fronts. We’ve worked hard to get in this position, we have to make the most of it.
“I don’t think losing to St Johnstone has any impact on the semi-final against United. If anything, hopefully it will have a positive impact.
“We know our performance levels weren’t great so it was a bit of a wake-up call.”