Hibs: Forget about the Cup - for now

Published on Monday 8 February 2010 10:16

HIBS boss John Hughes today urged his players to put any thoughts of Scottish Cup glory out of their minds as they prepare for their toughest month of SPL action.

• Colin Nish celebrates after scoring Hibs' second against Montrose

The Easter Road outfit took another step towards a Hampden final as they cruised past Montrose and into the last eight but they now face five League matches in the space of just 17 days.

The visit of Aberdeen on Wednesday night will be followed by trips to Rangers, St Johnstone and Motherwell before Saints arrive in Edinburgh on February 27. And while Hibs will discover their quarter-final opponents just hours before facing the Dons, Hughes insisted the lunchtime draw should be paid no more than a cursory glance with full attention set on holding onto third place in the table.

He said: "I told the players before playing Montrose that a dreach misty day early in February, playing against a lower league team might not mean a lot – but it will if it takes us to a sunny day in May. I've obviously been asked if we can go on and win the Cup, what I will say is we have given ourselves another chance by making sure we are in the hat for the next round.

"It will take care of itself when it comes around but in the meantime we have a really tough programme coming up and we have to make sure we treat each of these games properly."

Hughes, though, was delighted with the "professional" manner in which his side disposed of Montrose, winning 5-1 with two goals from Colin Nish while Derek Riordan, Abdessalam Benjelloun and new signing Alan Gow also got on the scoresheet.

Seeing Benji and Gow score, allied to a comeback for Merouane Zemmama following his hamstring problem, were the added bonuses for Hughes who admits he faces a tough task as manager to keep every member of his squad happy.

However, he insisted, they need only look at the experience of John Rankin for inspiration. He said: "It's not so long ago John was not in the side but he got his chance and took it."