All-out attack is Hibs' only hope

Time dragged painfully for John Rankin and his Hibs team-mates as they journeyed despondently back from Slovenia this week. With their plane not touching down at Edinburgh airport until the wee small hours of Friday, home comforts could not come quickly enough after the bitter disappointments dished out on foreign soil.

However, it is the clock which Rankin believes could now play a crucial role in keeping alive the Easter Road team's hopes of progressing past NK Maribor and into the play-offs of the Europa League in Thursday's return leg.

Trailing by a daunting 3-0 first-leg deficit, the former Manchester United midfielder is adamant a quick-fire response in the early stages could turn the tie on its head.

"It's going to take a massive effort from everybody to try and turn this around, but I also think we need an early goal," he admitted.

"It was a long journey home. After the defeat, getting on the plane you're just desperate to get straight back home and put it to the back of your mind.

"Every minute felt like ten and we didn't arrive back until about 2.30am, but you just have to get on with it and get back to training and start preparing for the next leg.

"I think an early goal could maybe turn the tie, especially with us being at home, in front of our own crowd and with the buzz of playing in the new stadium for the first time, albeit the new stand isn't open yet.

"If we can get an early goal then it brings the tie to life. They'll be thinking they're comfortable but if we do get that goal then all of a sudden they'll be wondering what's happening. It will be interesting to see, with the fire-power we've got up front, if we can go and get another one. There's still belief within the squad, there would be no point in playing if there wasn't. We still believe we can get through to the next stage, albeit we've made it very, very difficult for ourselves conceding three goals."

Those strikes, a double from Josip Ilicic and a third from Marcos Tavares, displayed worryingly clinical finishing from the Slovenian Cup holders, who will be hoping an away goal will kill the tie completely on Thursday evening.

However, whilst the Slovenian domestic season is already under way and Maribor had to defeat Hungarians Videoton to set up their meeting with Hibs, Rankin is clear in his assessment that John Hughes' side were the architects of their own undoing with an error-strewn display on their first competitive outing of the new campaign. He knows a repeat performance simply will not do. "I think they were maybe a wee bit sharper than us, but I don't think that was the problem," he said."I think our mistakes were our own downfall. It was our mistakes that they capitalised on and that's where they got most of their chances from.

"If we can take them out of the equation then hopefully that will mean they won't get any chances and we can go and create a few ourselves. At Easter Road, we'll probably leave ourselves open to the counter-attack as well, because we're going to need to attack, attack, attack. But hopefully we will be solid enough at the back that they don't get an away goal and then we could hopefully score a few ourselves."

The prospect of an exciting tie against one of the continent's biggest teams, such as Juventus, Liverpool or Sporting Lisbon, will be enough to inspire, but Rankin also points to Hibs' domestic displays for encouraging signs a famous European night is possible.

"I've been involved in a few comebacks at Easter Road," he added. "The one that sticks out was Aberdeen at home last season when we were 2-0 down at half-time and we came back and scored an early goal in the second-half and then got a late equaliser.

"So, basically, it's only half-time in the tie and there's a long way to go. There's 90 minutes still to play and at Easter Road, domestically, we've done well against teams. Hopefully we can do that on Thursday."