Calderwood warns Hibs they remain in danger of drop

The Edinburgh team eased their relegation worries with a 2-0 win over St Mirren, opening up a five-point gap on basement outfit Hamilton but, Calderwood insisted, that result had changed Hibs' own situation only fractionally.

Now he is calling on his players to build on their win over Saints, their first victory in 13 matches as they face fourth-placed Kilmarnock, a position Calderwood agreed he'd love to be in.

He said: "Winning made a small difference but I think we have a task ahead of us to pull away from the bottom of the league. That's changed a fraction but the intention is to add to it.

"To do so we have to take advantage of our home games and we also have to win away between now and the end of the season.

"Tomorrow's match is against good opposition who are in a place we'd love to be in terms of points they have and the confidence and the feeling of how their season has been." Hibs last enjoyed back-to-back wins in beating Rangers and then Motherwell in November but failed to take off from there, managing just two points from their following ten matches and Calderwood hopes lessons have been learned.

He said: "We need to learn from the mistakes we have made, to continue to have chances and half-chances. I think that will be the telling factor and not to get ourselves behind in virtually every game since then."

Calderwood has, of course, strengthened his squad with the acquisition of six new players during the January transfer window with Icelandic Under-21 star Victor Palsson and fellow midfielder Matt Thornhill in particular catching the eye against the Buddies, and the Hibs boss believes the new arrivals will help lift his squad.

He said: "They had encouraging debuts, definitely. They've added to the mix, training has been good this week helped by the weather improving towards the end of it, there's different personnel and a freshness."

Calderwood, however, admitted it was a well-known face who had helped boost the feelgood factor with top scorer Derek Riordan having indicated after the win over Saints that he wants to stay at Easter Road when his contract expires in a few months.

The manager said: "That's good news, Derek's affinity is really with Hibs to it's something both parties are very keen to do."

Meanwhile, Hibs' home clash with Hearts scheduled for Saturday, April 2 has been switched to the following day with a 12.45pm kick-off. The match will be televised live by Sky Sports. Hibs' home match against Hamilton later that month has been moved to Sunday, April 17 with a noon kick-off to accommodate ESPN coverage.

• Hibs Under-19s face Falkirk in the quarter-finals of the SFA Youth Cup at East Mains on Sunday with a kick-off time of 1.30 pm.