Pat Fenlon keeps close watch on Hibs’ foes

Hibs boss Pat Fenlon is leaving nothing to chance, revealing he’s had Dundee United watched four times in the past 12 days ahead of Sunday’s showdown.

The Easter Road outfit’s latest spy mission took place last night as Johnny Russell claimed a late winner for Peter Houston’s side against Motherwell, a result which puts the Tayside club seventh in the SPL table.

Hibs’ Friday-night outing at Fir Park allowed Fenlon to make the trip to Paisley 
to watch a Russell penalty sink St Mirren the following 
day and the Edinburgh 
club again ran the rule over United as they exited the Scottish Communities League Cup in a penalty shoot-out against Hearts before Sunday’s

dramatic comeback against champions Celtic was added to Fenlon’s bulging dossier.

Fenlon’s meticulous approach also included the

250-mile round trip to see

St Mirren knock Aberdeen out of the League Cup, a journey which paid dividends as Hibs came from behind to defeat the Buddies and move briefly back to the top of the table.

Now Fenlon is hoping his homework will again pay off, insisting that while it may seem to some that there would be little to learn from seeing one team so often in such a short space of time, the exact opposite was true. He said: “There are always little things you can pick up on with perhaps players who haven’t been involved too much previously coming into a team, players being played in different positions, while tactics and formations can change not only from game-to-game, but within a match.

“It’s important you are prepared as fully as possible.”