Hibs: The importance of Ross County clash after Rangers win as they hunt down rivals Hearts

All football fans possess an underlying sense of fatalism and foreboding at all times. That something bad is going to occur. That feeling only grows off the back of a positive experience.

Hibs will be looking to follow up the cup win over Rangers with success against Ross County in the league. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Coming back from Hampden Park after easing past Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final, Hibs fans will have been on cloud nine. They had just witnessed their side put in a confident and controlled performance in a comprehensive 3-1 win which even the most positive of Hibees probably didn't see coming.

Yet, even amongst the delight and delirium, there will have been a few already writing off the Ross County game on Wednesday.

Just put in an excellent performance in one of the biggest games of the season? Just provided a cup shock? Knocking out one half of the Old Firm? Well, it means only one thing: a disappointing result in the next game.

This is a feeling that isn't solely reserved for Hibs fans. Supporters of every club outwith Celtic and Rangers would be thinking the same thing.

It would be churlish to suggest the rearranged trip to the top-flight’s bottom side is of the same importance as a cup semi-final against Rangers. But it is important nonetheless.

Hibs go into the match without a league win since the end of September, losing their last four Premiership outings. That run, plus the Covid outbreak, has seen the team drop out of the top six, falling nine points behind rivals Hearts and Dundee United in third and fourth respectively.

Sunday’s win was significant for Jack Ross and the perception that he fails on the big stage, plus putting an end to a period of negativity around the club, which even fans resort to complaining about contract extensions for club legends.

A point to prove

Tomorrow night in Dingwall is about moving forward.

Ross and his team need to build on the Rangers win to ensure it wasn't an outlier.

Between Wednesday and January 3, Hibs will face all other 11 teams in league action, the same number of league games as between the end of January and middle of April. It may not be quite make or break but the next 40 or so days will shape the campaign.

Three points against a team who have won just once this season and conceded an average of more than two a game should be bread and butter for a team of Hibs’ quality.

Aesthetically it will look good. They jump back into the top six, move to within just six points of third place, with key players returning.

It adds to that feel-good factor from Sunday, earns more trust within the support and all of a sudden momentum is building ahead of two further away games at teams in the bottom four.

This Hibs squad, light it may be and tested it will be over the coming weeks, is full of quality and better than the current league position. It is one which will have been hurting from the negativity of the past month.

It was evident in the celebrations against Rangers how much it meant to the them, showcasing the joy of a team and their support coming together.

Against Ross County, it will be about showing Hibs are over their slump and back on the right path.

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