Paul Hanlon excited as Hibs boss Paul Heckingbottom builds his own team

Paul Hanlon is relishing the forthcoming Premiership campaign

The club embarked on a ten-match unbeaten run when the South Yorkshireman took over from Neil Lennon in February, lifting them from eighth place in the Ladbrokes Premiership to a top-six finish which, at one stage, had looked beyond them.

But as he and his team-mates prepare to return for pre-season training on Thursday, Hanlon believes that is no more than a start for Heckingbottom, believing the former Barnsley and Leeds United manager can steer Hibs to greater heights.

Central defender Adam Jackson and midfielder Joe Newell have already been signed while Scott Allan will be returning for a third spell with the promise of more new faces to arrive in the coming weeks.

And Hanlon is just as eager as anyone to discover who his new team-mates will be. He said: “I’m a Hibs fan so I want Hibs to be as good and as successful as possible. The better players we get through the door is great for me because there’s more chances of being higher up the league, reaching cup finals and things like that.

“I don’t know Adam or Joe and haven’t seen too much of them playing, but they come with a good pedigree and the manager knows them. He’ll want his squad settled as early as possible and it’ll be good to have Scotty coming back as well, he’s only going to make us better.”

Having worked with Heckingbottom for only a few months, Hanlon believes the head coach will also be excited at the prospect of fully implementing his plans, happy with the glimpses he has seen so far.

He said: “Everybody knows we had a bad dip in the middle of last season which cost us, but with the change of manager we had a right good run of form.

“I think it will be a case of improving on that and implementing what the manager wants. We have seen bits of that, but he wants even more, even better and that’s what we’ll use pre-season for.

“The gaffer has been great - it helps when you come in and go ten unbeaten. It gives everyone a belief that what we are doing is right and we were on the same page, working hard. It was a good run but that doesn’t mean it will automatically continue like that.

“We need to work really hard in pre-season, not just physically but also on the shape and his philosophy. I think he will be as excited as anyone. He has drip-fed things to us and got good results so far, but this is a real chance to get everything bedded in and learn the way he wants us to play.

“That’s exciting for the players, coming back and looking to learn and impress all over again. He’s really just getting started.

“He’s got himself in the door and started the work to mould the team that he wants. This is his first transfer window to put his squad together and I’m sure he’s paying attention to that. He will be looking forward to getting the boys back in, getting the fitness tests done and then starting to get work done on the pitch.”

After a tough few seasons the more recent past has seen Hibs enjoy a period of success, the Scottish Cup win followed by the Championship title and promotion and then back-to-back top six finishes but, declared Hanlon, everyone at Easter Road is determined to push on even further.

He said: “We’ve been through tougher times at the club, having to fight and scrap to get ourselves back up. It was difficult but that’s why you enjoy the better times - and in the past few years it’s been good.

“But you can’t rest on that. There’s too many good teams and players to be able to rest on what you’ve done before.

“I’m sure with the manager we’ve got there’s no chance we will be standing still. We had a dip last year that cost us in that we were always chasing those above us. But we finished top six and above our rivals which keeps the fans happy.”

As for a target for the coming season? “Just higher than the previous season,” said  Hanlon. “To play as attractive football as we can the way he wants us to play. If we do get it spot on then the fans will love watching it and if we do we’ll get results more often than not.”