Colin Nish looking to banish Ross County before his exile begins again

HIBS striker Colin Nish today admitted he's becoming increasingly frustrated at discovering a three-match ban will, in fact, extend over a six-game run.

Nish had an automatic one game suspension imposed after being sent off against St Johnstone on 17 February.

The 29-year-old's indiscretion in Perth, his second red card of the season, also saw him earn the further sanction of two more matches on the sidelines, the 12 penalty points added to his record under the SFA's disciplinary code taking him over the ban threshold.

However, due to the manner in which the suspension has been applied, the 6ft 3in forward has found himself in and out of boss John Hughes' plans, a situation which will continue until the ban is finally spent following next weekend's derby at Tynecastle.

After the dismissal for kicking out at St Johnstone's Michael Duberry during Hibs' embarrassing 5-1 defeat at McDiarmid Park, Nish missed Hibs' next match, away to Motherwell three days later.

However, the further suspension under the SFA's "topping up" procedure didn't come into force until a fortnight after his misdemeanour, leaving Nish free to face the Saints again when they travelled to Easter Road the following week.

Nish was then banned as Hibs ended their five-match run without a win with victory over his old club Kilmarnock last weekend.

As the suspension only applies to SPL matches, he's available for today's Active Nation Scottish Cup quarter-final against Ross County before being suspended again for next week's Capital derby at Tynecastle – the second game of his two-match SPL ban.

The suspension will then be over and he'll be free to play when Dundee United pitch up at Easter Road four days later for a showdown between the two sides in pole position for a third-place finish.

Today an exasperated Nish said: "It's been really disappointing, I'd rather have got everything over and done with.

"It's been very much stop-start for me, available to play in one game and not the next, having to keep myself ticking over for weeks.

"I'm delighted to be free to play today in what is probably our biggest game of the season, one I'm really looking forward to but then I'm out for the Hearts match which isn't so good."

As such Nish, a Hibs fan, is determined to make the most of today's visit from First Division Ross County, an opportunity to claim a place in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, just 90 minutes away from a return to Hampden for the final itself.

Given the Easter Road outfit's history in the competition, more than a century without lifting the trophy, no-one connected with the club can be more than cautiously optimistic as to Hibs' prospects as each year's competition gets underway.

But having enjoyed home draws against Ayrshire Junior outfit Irvine Meadow and then Montrose, rooted to the foot of the Third Division, before today, many in green and white have begun dreaming that this, finally, may be their year.

Inevitably, it has led to Hughes and his players being described as "lucky," a tag Nish simply shrugged aside saying: "Perhaps it looks as if someone is looking down on us, giving us decent draws. But, if we were to win the Cup, it wouldn't matter who we have played. We've seen SPL sides going out to lower division clubs all the time. We've been fortunate in terms of the draws we've had but you still have to beat them.

"To these teams these matches are their Cup final, sometimes they can be harder to beat."

Nish acknowledged, however, that Derek Adams' Ross County side will undoubtedly prove to be tougher competition than Irvine or Montrose, reflecting that their fight with Dundee and Highland neighbours Inverness Caledonian Thistle for the First Division title makes them "probably just like an SPL team".

Insisting, though, that Hibs' Scottish Cup history doesn't bring any greater pressure to bear on today's players, Nish admitted he'd relish a return to Hampden having only played at the national stadium once – for Kilmarnock in the 5-1 CIS Insurance Cup final defeat by John Collins' Hibs.

Two other visits as a supporter have brought just as much disappointment.

Nish said: "I was there for the 0-0 Scottish Cup semi-final against Dunfermline but didn't go to the replay and I was also there when Paul Hartley scored a hat-trick for Hearts against Hibs.

"Then there was the Cup final with Kilmarnock, the only time I've played there and, I think, I gave big Rob Jones a lift for the first goal.

"I'd love to play there a few more times."