Hibs face own Crucible as Celtic visit could leave Easter Road side needing snookers amid mixed emotions
Fans unlikely to remember much about this season - unless Hearts title nightmare comes true
Fittingly enough, at a time of the year when so many are in thrall to events at The Crucible, Hibs kicked off their post-split campaign already needing snookers. In the aftermath of Sunday’s infuriating derby defeat, they now find themselves sitting quietly in the corner with a glass of water and a glazed expression, just praying that their opponent makes a fat-thumbed mistake of epic proportions.
The Scottish Cup hopes of this weekend’s opponents, ironically enough, mean Hibs cannot actually have their season ended – mathematically, technically or even just effectively – by anything that happens in 90 minutes at Easter Road. But the battle for fourth place in the Scottish Premiership, a contest that carries with it the prize of a guaranteed crack at those UEFA Conference League qualifiers, could well be over by early Sunday afternoon.
Motherwell flying high after win over Rangers
And that would leave supporters facing a truly underwhelming closing stretch of the campaign, relying on others to prevent the nightmare title scenario for all Hibs fans … and then keeping their fingers crossed that former gaffer Neil Lennon doesn’t pull off a miracle at Hampden next month. It’s football. But not much fun.
It breaks down like this. A Motherwell win at Falkirk on Saturday would put the Steelmen nine points – plus at least 12 goals – clear of David Gray’s men in fourth place.
| Motherwell | Played 34 | Pts 57 | GD +24 |
| Hibs | Played 34 | Pts 51 | GD +13 |
The plus side? That would also leave Falkirk five points adrift in sixth place, meaning fifth – and a potential crack at Europe, assuming Celtic do the business in the Scottish Cup Final – looks like the most likely landing spot for the Easter Road side.
However, in order to keep their hopes of finishing fourth alive, arithmetically speaking, Hibs would need something from their home game with Celtic. Lose this one and they’d be chasing three thumping wins over Falkirk (A), Rangers (A) and Motherwell (H), in conjunction with Jens Berthel Askou’s men losing all of their remaining games, just to have a chance.
Not looking great, then, is it? Given the way Motherwell played in their weekend win over Rangers at Ibrox, you’d have to fancy them picking up at least another three or four points between now and the end of the season.
Which means Hibs have no choice but to go hell for leather and hope for the best. Starting with the visit of the reigning champions.
Hibs fans flat after derby loss
As for how this weekend’s contest stacks up, well, the fact that Martin O’Neill has his men chasing a title is definitely a factor. As is the fact that, quite frankly, more than a few home supporters will have mixed emotions about what they want to see happen.
In 20 years’ time, none of those fans are going to care – or possibly even remember – whether or not Hibs finished fourth, fifth or seventh in season 2025-26. But they won’t be able to forget a Hearts title triumph.
The players and coaching staff will be motivated to win. And the fact that they recorded a historic away victory over Celtic as recently as late February will provide some source of optimism.
Already, though, Gray and his team are looking for help from elsewhere in the top six. Focusing on Falkirk. And knowing that, in snooker terms, they’re seeking a 147 break with only six reds left on the table.