Brown says Hibs can still make an impact

Hibs' hopes of squeezing into the upper-half of the SPL appear to be all but over, but today goalkeeper Mark Brown insisted there is still a long way to go for Colin Calderwood's squad.

Anything other than victory at Celtic Park tonight will finally extinguish that particular dream although, even with a win, the Easter Road outfit would still depend on the outcome of sixth-placed Motherwell's clash with Dundee United at Fir Park.

Even if results tonight were to go Hibs' way, they'd still need to win their last two games before the split while relying on Motherwell losing their final match against Hearts this weekend - and that's before taking into account the fortunes of both Inverness Caley and St Johnstone.

It is that feeling of helplessness which Brown admitted was the most frustrating, Calderwood's players having revived their chances of a top-six finish for the seventh successive season with a run of seven matches undefeated.

However, five straight wins, coupled with draws against St Johnstone and Hearts, have proved too little to overcome a horrendous first half to the season which culminated in a ten-game streak which saw just two points out of a possible 30 pocketed. Accepting it would now take an "unbelievable" sequence of results for Hibs to overturn odds which are most decidedly against them, Brown insisted the remaining games of the season can still be put to good use.

He said: "It's frustrating because we started the season wanting to be in the top six again but over the course of the campaign the results have not been good enough to put us in that position and basically that's our own fault.

"It's not just our results. Now we are relying on others and, to be honest, it would take a pretty strange turn of events to get us there. I think, to be honest, it's now a case of us trying to keep the good run we are on going rather than looking elsewhere. We can play in the games we have and our target has to be to win as many as we can between now and the end of the season.

"We have to look at the positives, try to build on what has been a good run and look towards next season. There's no point looking back and thinking 'if only this or that had happened.'

"You look forward and try as a team to progress and become better. It's been a long season for the fans and us players. There's been a lot of disappointments along the way but hopefully we can finish the season well and then look to next season.

"The manager has changed the squad a bit, there's a lot of the boys are out-of-contract and the chances are that more than most will be leaving the club and new faces arriving.

"You can't write off the rest of the season, I am sure the manager will be looking to try players out, to perhaps blood a couple of boys who have not played with a view to next season."

If, as most now believe, little remains for Hibs this season other than continuing to restore their badly battered pride by finishing as high up the SPL as possible, tonight's opponents have their eyes firmly fixed on the title itself.

And Brown believes his former club will believe the odds have swung back in their favour following Rangers' defeat at home by Dundee United at the weekend while Celtic were left idle with the late cancellation of their match at Inverness.

As a result, Neil Lennon's side found themselves remaining top of the pile, two points better off than their Old Firm rivals after 28 games although Rangers went ahead again following their 2-0 win over St Johnstone last night.

Brown said: "I think Celtic will now believe they are favourites. They'd have left Inverness feeling a bit dejected and disappointed at the game being off but then they'd have heard the Rangers result, that things had turned round and that will have lifted them.

"They'll be looking to go back top again tonight and the fact they haven't played since losing the Co-operative Insurance Cup to Rangers will, I am sure, mean they are still smarting.

"Celtic be a bit like we were before the derby having not played for a month, they'll be desperate for a game, particularly with the way things went over the weekend at the top of the table.

"But Celtic are under pressure in every game, particularly so at home. I know from my time both there and at Ibrox that there is no leeway, you are expected to win regardless of who you are playing."

But while conceding Celtic will start obvious favourites, Brown pointed to Hibs' shock 3-0 win at Ibrox earlier in the season as proof that no-one should take a home win as guaranteed.

He said: "That's why football is such a great game, no result is certain. If they were then everyone who does the football coupons would be millionaires because they'd be winning every week.

"You get upsets, yes. Celtic will start favourites, but that does not mean we do not have a chance ourselves. I feel we have enough ability and that, allied to the form we are in, surely means we have a chance of getting at least something from the game.

"Of course there will be long spells when Celtic have the ball, so we have to defend well as a unit and when we are in possession we have to use it well, keep it moving, be positive and look to make something happen for us."