Garry O'Connor: Former Hibs striker has say on European hopes and gives verdict on current attackers

Christian Doidge is fine form for Hibs. Pic: SNS

Garry O’Connor believes on-form Hibs have the firepower and momentum to force themselves into the Europa League qualifying places in the closing stages of the Scottish Premiership season.

The Easter Road side have climbed from 11th place to sixth over the past four months and have lost only one of their nine matches in all competitions since the winter break. They are currently the top scorers in the league outwith Rangers and Celtic and sit five points beneath Aberdeen and Motherwell, the two sides currently occupying third and fourth place.

With the Dons and Well finding victories hard to come by at present, O’Connor, who was part of the last Hibs team to finish third back in 2005, feels his old team are well equipped to mount a strong push for the top four over the last 11 games of the season.

“I think Hibs have turned it round under Jack Ross, I’ve been really impressed with them recently,” O’ Connor told the Evening News. “They’ve got goals in their team at the moment, and if they can keep it tight at the back, I feel they’ve definitely got a good chance of getting into Europe. It’ll be tight with Motherwell and Aberdeen, and Livingston are also doing well, but Hibs are certainly in good enough form to get into Europe. The important games will be the six-pointers against the likes of Motherwell and Aberdeen. But it certainly feels like good times again at Hibs at the moment.”

As one of Hibs’ most reputable strikers of the modern era, O’Connor is pleased to see his old team loaded with attacking talent. Christian Doidge has hit 16 goals since his summer arrival, while fellow striker and January signing Marc McNulty has chipped in with four already. With Scott Allan, Martin Boyle and Greg Docherty supplying the ammunition, O’Connor sees no reason why Hibs can’t maintain their impressive scoring form.

“The goals were what Hibs were missing at the start of the season,” he said. “Big Doidge had a hard start to his Hibs career but he’s improved. The thing I like about him as that even when he misses a chance, he doesn’t let it get him down - he keeps coming back and getting into good scoring positions. He’s a bit like me in how he does a lot of work off the ball. I wasn’t sure about him at the beginning but he’s definitely improved and he’s doing really well now.

“Then you’ve got McNulty who’s a poacher. I really like him as a player but I think he’s still a wee bit of the pace fitness-wise. He looks like he needs a few more games, but I would expect him to come on really strong as the season goes on.

“I think Doidge and McNulty will complement each other well if Jack sticks with the two up front, which I hope he does. With Scotty Allan playing off those two and the likes of Boyler chipping in as well, Hibs should have plenty goals in them. They’ve even got Jamie Gullan, who scored four goals the other day, knocking on the door. It’s exciting times.”