Hibs ready for 'big week' as United and Hearts challenges follow stunning win over champions Celtic

Hibs have their sights set on leapfrogging Dundee United to jump back into FOURTH place in the Scottish Premiership in midweek, as David Gray looks to build on the momentum of Saturday’s spectacular home win over reigning champions Celtic. And the Easter Road boss believes his side face a “big week” in the race for European football – capped by this weekend’s derby on home soil.

Any kind of win at Tannadice will see Gray’s men move ahead of United. In a busy midweek of SPFL action, three points will also move them one step closer to securing a top-six spot at the split, the first target for a season that began with a horrific run of relegation form.

“We’re in a real positive place now to try and finish the season as strong as we can,” said Gray. “But this league demonstrates how tough things are all the time, just with how tight it is.

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“My message has been very clear to the players for a number of weeks now, which is trying to catch the team in front of us. That's all we can do at the moment.

“Our aim is catching the team in front and collect as many points as we can, as quickly as we can before the split, because that gives you a real chance of looking higher. Our full focus right now is to make sure we cement our place in that top six.

“So it’s a big week. I think a lot will happen in terms of everybody plays everybody.

“By the end of the week, we’ll have four games until the split. And we can see how tight that race for that is right now; it’s been like that all season.”

Hibs won just once in their first 14 leagues games in Gray’s first season as gaffer. But they’ve been on a remarkable run since late November, losing just once – at Celtic Park – in 15 games and putting together a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Reflecting on the criticism that inevitably followed his team’s inability to pick up results over the opening months of the campaign, Gray admitted: “Yes, that's something that I've talked a lot about, especially early on in the season. The mentality was always questioned, and the character of the group was questioned.

“It was difficult to not take that on the chin because of the results and performances at that point. Mostly results, not so much performances early on in the season. We needed to really stick together during that time.

“There were moments in games when I even think back to the character from last week. We didn't play anywhere near the level last week against St Mirren, a real difficult game. Went down to ten men but saw the game out. At the start of the season, we'd been on the reverse of that and didn't manage to hold out.

“We are moving forward; we are progressing as a group and that momentum is building. That togetherness is getting there all the time.

“We've got Joe Newell coming back, Kieran Bowie making his first start and doing incredibly well. Marvin Ekpiteta back, Elie Youan’s not far away from being back. The squad itself now is really, really strong.”

Easter Road side hot on heels of Brendan Rodgers’ champions in 13-game blitz

Hibs have collected 28 points from the last 39 available. Over the course of that 13-game run, they’ve been ripping along at a rate of 2.15 points per game.

To put that in perspective, league leaders Celtic are the ONLY team in Scotland to have topped that total in their last 13 games, with Brendan Rodgers’ men picking up 29 points during that run. Victory over the Hoops on Saturday saw Gray’s men move onto 37 points for the season, meaning they’re likely to secure a top-six spot at the league split by picking up just seven points from the next six games.

Gray obviously has his sights set higher than that, having presided over a run of eight wins, five draws and just a single loss during that sequence. His Hibs team have scored 24 goals in their last 13 league games, conceding only 13 to recover their goal difference after those early losses.

A 1-0 win over United would see them move level on points and goal difference with Jim Goodwin’s men. But Hibs would move into fourth on goals scored.

On Sunday Hibs welcome city rivals Hearts to Easter Road for the third Edinburgh derby of the season, with the home side looking to build on their Boxing Day win at Tynecastle. Victory on Tayside would ensure that they go into the 12,30 kick-off at least four points clear of their neighbours.

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