Ross has Hibs on difficult road to recovery
ALMOST there. Just one final push on the hardest of roads. And then everyone can breathe.
Jack Ross admits that, when he accepted the Hibs job, he took more than a passing glance at the fixture list leading up to the winter break. It didn’t exactly leave him thrilled.
Having taken six points from a four-game stretch that has pitted them against Aberdeen, Celtic, Rangers and now Hearts, Ross can feel reasonably satisfied with the progress made.
Livingston at the ‘Spaghettihad’ tomorrow represents, of course, a different sort of challenge.
Against a side who have lost just twice at home during this Premiership campaign, nothing can be taken for granted.
‘It’s strange,’ said Ross. ‘When I was speaking to Hibs about this job, I looked at the fixtures and knew this period — Aberdeen, Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Livingston — was a tough one. Coming to the end of it, we have done okay out of it. But we know how difficult Sunday will be as well.
‘It’s a different challenge in terms of atmosphere, although we will take a good travelling support with us. The surface is also different. So there are a lot of different dynamics to the game.
‘And the danger is you come from the emotional high of Thursday — and there’s always a natural down.
‘It’s such a quick turnaround for both sides as well, so we’ll assess the players over the next day or so and see if we need to freshen anything up for Sunday.’
Scott Allan was suffering from sickness and, with Florian Kamberi definitely out after picking up a knee injury, there is an air of Hibs — like many other teams — rather staggering towards the line.
‘We haven’t made a lot of changes,’ said Ross. ‘Hearts is the most we have made so far and two of those were enforced. We had a couple of bumps and bruises during the game, so we’ll see how they are.
‘Scott wasn’t feeling well, so we’ll see how they report — and go from there. I’ll look properly at Livingston as well to assess what we need best. The break coming up gives you that little bit of comfort that you can push boys a little bit more than you would normally.’ Livingston picked up a point against then manager Paul Heckingbottom’s
Hibs at Easter Road in October, with the homeside needing to come back from 2-0 down just to salvage a draw.
Lions defender Ricki Lamie expects to face a much-improved team tomorrow, saying: ‘They’ve had a boost of confidence. And it is Hibs at the end of the day. They’re a massive club with a massive budget.
‘They’ve good players who can punish you, so we need to be a bit more resolute defensively than we were against Aberdeen if we want a result.
‘Hibs picked up a good result against Hearts and will be looking to kick on. We threw away a two-goal lead at Easter Road earlier in the season. Hopefully, we can go back to our place and end the year with a decent win.’
Gary Holt’s men remain comfortably clear of any danger in the Scottish Premiership table, having taken to life in the top flight with a degree of ease — thanks to a lot of hard work — since their promotion via the play-offs in 2018.
‘I think we’re just about four or five points off our tally (from last season),’ said Lamie (left).
‘So, if we can go into Sunday and get a win, we’re not far off last year and we had a poor second half last season. So, if we can kick on again, then we can see where it takes us.’
HIBS have cut short Glenn Middleton’s loan move from Rangers.
Initially signed until the end of the season, the 19-year-old winger will return to Ibrox ahead of the January transfer window.