Hibs aiming for 'same again' after dominating Dons on home soil - Gray's predicted starting XI for Easter Road

Hibs welcome Aberdeen to Easter Road for the first time since everything - absolutely everything - changed for BOTH teams on that incredible night back in late November. The respective trajectories of David Gray’s men and Jimmy Thelin’s former title contenders since Rocky Bushiri’s late equaliser turned a potential 28-point gap into an easily bridgeable five-point cushion for the Dons have been nothing sort of extraordinary.

For Hibs, picking up a single point from that 3-3 draw was the beginning of a run that saw them lose just one of their next 12 games in all competitions. Currently on a nine-game undefeated run, they haven’t been beaten since losing to Celtic at Celtic Park back at the start of December.

Thelin’s former table toppers, by contracts, have taken just four points from the last 39 available. Their grip on fourth place in the Scottish Premiership looks anything but convincing.

Hibs won the last time these teams met, comfortably ending up on the right side of a 3-1 score line at Pittodrie just before Christmas. The Aberdeen weaknesses exposed on that day have NOT been fully repaired. Even allowing for familiarity making coaching teams contemptuous of simply trying the same thing again, then, don’t expect Gray to tinker much with a formula that has been working - up to a point - pretty well of late.

With club captain Joe Newell and pacey attacker Elie Youan both still missing, and new signing Alasana Manneh not yet cleared to play, the home side aren’t quite at full strength. But they’re playing on a better surface than they found in muddy Dingwall last weekend. So should we expect any major changes?

Here’s how we think Hibs will line up today: