Hibs have a point to prove says Liam Fontaine

Liam Fontaine believes Hibs must win every game to have a chance of catching Rangers. Picture: SNS.

Hibs go into this afternoon's match with Dumbarton with a point to prove. But not because they slipped up against Morton on Wednesday, according to defender Liam Fontaine.

“I think in any game we’ve got a point to prove. That’s the pressure we play under at Hibs,” he said.

“With what we want to achieve, you have to play under pressure in most games and we’ve got pressure games coming up. We’re going to have to step up in all of them.”

The club had hoped to use their game in hand to reduce the gap between themselves and Championship leaders Rangers but the deficit remains eight points and leaves Hibs only 11 fixtures to somehow overhaul the Ibrox side and secure automatic 
promotion.

Fontaine added: “Rangers are going to have to drop points and if they do we need to be there. We need to win every game. That’s all we’re going to look to do and try to keep putting points on the board whenever we can.”

It was suggested that fighting on three fronts could have been a contributing factor to the midweek defeat, but, with an unrelenting schedule, Fontaine claimed the players are buoyed by the possibilities rather than mentally or physically drained. He said: “It’s exciting to be part of a team that’s looking to achieve things. Just because we lost on Wednesday night, nothing changes. I wouldn’t say [tiredness] is part of the problem. We’ve shown our squad is capable of dealing with things with people coming in and people going out. I wouldn’t say it’s been an issue at all.”

The Easter Road side may have their sights on the tasks in front of them but the club is also taking a longer term view, beating Hearts to sign 17-year-old left-back Sean Mackie, from Raith Rovers, on a four-and-a-half-year contract.