John Hughes wants another 2,000 through gates at Hibs

Published on Thursday 29 October 2009 21:43

HIBERNIAN go into tomorrow's match against Aberdeen knowing that, for the second weekend in succession, the right combination of results will see them go to the top of the SPL table.

To do so they will need to pick up three points and rely on Celtic losing to Kilmarnock, but these days that is not such a far-fetched scenario.

Hibs manager John Hughes continues to insist that his team are at present some way from being the finished article, but there is a steady groundswell of belief among the club's supporters that this side can shrug off the inconsistency shown by its predecessors.

Hughes hopes that growing mood of optimism can be translated into rising attendances at Easter Road, beginning with tomorrow's game.

"It's going to be a really difficult football match," he said. "I'd like to think an extra couple of thousand will be put on the gate, because we've been playing some good stuff. So hopefully we can hit the heights."

In common with other clubs, Hibs certainly have seats to spare this season. Easter Road has a capacity of 17,500, but the club's top attendance so far is a little over 14,000 for the game against Celtic.

There were just under 11,000 in the ground for Hibs' last home game, the win against Kilmarnock, so in that sense Hughes may get what he hopes for. In the longer term, however, consistently larger crowds will come only when his team prove themselves capable, over the course of several months, of producing consistently good performances and results.

They are certainly going in the right direction at present, and one day soon look set to enjoy a big win in a game in which everything goes right for them.

Needless to say if that happens Hughes will be delighted, but at the moment his main concern is avoiding the kind of complacency which leads to a dropping-off of standards.

"I said to the players, 'If you feel a winning side picks itself, you want to sit back and rest on your laurels, and train as if you're in the team, then you might get your fingers burnt'," he explained. "That's the message that I put through to them.

"I'm big on how you apply yourself on the training pitch, and every one of them is working to stay in the team and every one of them is working to get in the team. I've been looking at the way they've been training. It gives you a great indication who's looking sharp and, to be fair, they're all looking sharp.

"I'm still miles away from where I want to be. There's still a lot of hard work in front of us. That's what I say to the players, if any of them want to sit back and rest on their laurels. I want players to train like they're champions, like it's their last day on the training pitch, and that's what we're working toward.

"All your top players do it for themselves. They make demands of each other and put great demands on themselves. They also have the will and the desire to win, and hopefully all that will be the case on Saturday."

The principal worry for Hibs supporters, and perhaps the main reason why Hughes habitually tries to downplay expectations, is the lack of depth in the squad. Injuries to one or two key players could lead to a significant dip in form, while the loss of Sol Bamba for the African Cup of Nations early next year may also unsettle the team.

For the time being, however, the manager has pretty much a full squad to choose from. There is a settled spine to the side, but also keen competition for some places.

That combination means that, so far at least, Hughes has been able to ensure a measure of continuity of selection while at the same time guarding against complacency.

The positive routine he has fostered helps stop his players becoming overawed by the bigger domestic matches such as tomorrow's, and encourages them to approach every fixture in the same way.

Or, as Hughes himself put it when asked about the visit of Aberdeen: "It's just another game for us. Everything we did last week is history, and all our focus is now on Aberdeen."

Rather than meaning anything disrespectful towards his opponents by labelling the match "just another game", Hughes wanted to demonstrate that his team would neither get over-excited by big occasions nor take more low-key matches lightly. Indeed, when asked if this game was a bigger one than last week's draw against Rangers, he replied in the affirmative.

"Definitely, from where we want to go," he said. "I always knew at Falkirk (his former club], that after an Old Firm game where we had a good performance the expectation levels went up and we always seemed to under-perform the next again week.

"So hopefully that won't be the case here, and we can carry on the form that we showed last week. If we can go and do that, then I think we'll win the football match. If not, there's every chance we could lose it."

By any rational analysis, Hibs have a better chance of winning it than losing it. Predicting how many people turn up to watch the game is an altogether trickier matter, but the smart money is on 13, 646.