Heckingbottom backing Hibs to stay unbeaten in Europe bid
Paul Heckingbottom believes Hibernian are capable of remaining unbeaten in the Premiership under his guidance until the end of the season as they bid to snatch a Europa League qualifying place, writes Stephen Halliday.
The Yorkshireman’s impressive start to life as Hibs manager continued with a 0-0 draw at home to champions Celtic, extending their undefeated sequence in league matches since his appointment to nine games.
Hibs are now five points off fourth place in the table, which could secure European football next season. With four games remaining, starting with another Edinburgh derby at home to Hearts next Sunday, Heckingbottom is backing his players to avoid losing any of them.
“There’s no reason we can’t remain unbeaten but it’s tough,” he said. “We’ve had to fight for everything so far, so it would be a hell of an achievement and would take some doing.
“You see the effort the boys are putting in. They are putting their bodies on the line at the back and showing a willingness to go forward and try to win games. I am proud of them right now and they deserve good things written about them and the support of the fans. I was at the Kilmarnock-aberdeen game on Saturday and it’s clear everyone is going to pick up points in the chase for European places. We need a lot of things to go our way, being five points behind with four games left.
“Of course it [European qualification] would be great but it’s not what we are worried about. That is Hearts next weekend – how do we prepare? How do we win that game?
“The unbeaten run is good but I’d rather have won eight and lost one of those nine games and had more points. One – I wouldn’t need to keep talking about the unbeaten record. Two – we’d be higher up the league.
“In all honesty, I was disappointed we did not beat Celtic because you get greedy. I was pleased because, for long parts of the game, we were exactly how we wanted to play and what we are about.
“We asked them to do a lot of things which were a test for them and going to leave them a little bit exposed when we try to press high. When they are trying to do what you ask, you back them all the way. They can take confidence from it.”