Michael Weir: Hibs should kick on and open up gap at top

Hibs are now looking sharp at both ends of the pitch, which is a really good situation as we look to open up a gap at the top of the table.

John McGinn was in fine form for Hibs at Ayr

We’re scoring goals again and keeping clean sheets – the challenge now is to keep it going on a consistent basis. Ayr’s a difficult place to go and we knew of the danger they posed after they beat us the last time, so to win in such a convincing manner bodes well.

In attack, Martin Boyle is playing with real confidence for the first time in his two years at Hibs. I’ve always felt he had something to give and he’s starting to grab his chance playing through the middle. If he can stay in the zone, he can help himself to a good few goals this season.

In midfield, our main man John McGinn is starting to get back towards his best. I felt he looked a bit sluggish at the start of the season but hopefully he’s starting to get his form back. If we can get him back firing on all cylinders, there’s no better player in this league.

The defence also deserve a lot of credit because they’re giving us a really solid base to build from by keeping clean sheets. Ofir Marciano will be a miss for us on Saturday after getting called up by Israel. He’s not had a massive amount to do in terms of making saves every week, but he looks very stable and seems to give a lot of confidence to the back four. An assured goalkeeper is hard to find, but it looks like we’ve got one.

With the team starting to click again, we now have to aim to get far enough ahead of the pack so that any dips later in the season don’t hurt us. It would be nice to have a wee cushion by Christmas.

Dundee United are improving week by week, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone at Hibs, because they always looked like a team that would eventually come good under Ray MacKinnon. We shouldn’t underestimate them but, at the same time, we shouldn’t be worrying about them because the simple fact is that Hibs have the strongest squad in the league. If we take care of our own business, it won’t matter a jot what Dundee United – or anyone else, for that matter – are doing.