Eoin Doyle says second is a realistic target for Hibs

EOIN Doyle knows that being top of the table after nine games does not mean very much, but he is confident that Hibernian can still be close to the summit come the end of the season. The Irishman scored the opening goal as Hibs beat Dundee 3-0 on Saturday, and while Celtic retook the top spot after beating Hearts yesterday, Doyle sees no reason why his club should not at least be challenging for second place in the SPL.

“I don’t see why we can’t stay up near the top at least,” he said. “We’ve played the majority of teams now and have done reasonably well – there’s nothing that has really frightened us.

“We’ve gone to Celtic Park and got a result [a 2-2 draw], which is a big plus, something to give you confidence that you can do it. It’s very early in the season and I’m sure after Christmas we’ll look into it more, but it’s important to be fighting up there, because this is a big club that, over the last few seasons, has been very much under achieving.

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“We’ll all be judged at the end of the season – and I’ll be surprised myself if Celtic don’t win it, to be honest, but we’ll keep pushing ourselves.

“We’ve had chances to go top of the league and slipped up. Against Dundee we put that right, and put a statement out there, letting everyone know we’ll be there challenging.”

Having arrived at the start of the year, when Hibs were embroiled in a confidence-sapping relegation battle, Doyle has seen the mood at Easter Road steadily turn around. “I was here last year when we were struggling, but, as the gaffer has said, the dressing room is a different animal now.

“There are better characters in there. Everyone is willing to fight for each other. There is a lot of steel in the team. There are 11 of us out there feeling very confident.”

Just as Doyle believes Hibs can stay in contention at the top, so many observers, even this early, are convinced that Dundee will remain rooted to the foot of the league. 
St Johnstone kept them company for a few weeks, but Dundee are now in danger of becoming detached. Their only win to date was at Tynecastle, where they got in front thanks to an early penalty then held on.

Midfielder Jim McAlister says his team by no means feel outclassed in the SPL, but accepted that, at present, it felt like they had to take the lead if they were to stand a chance of winning a game. “We’ve been in every game, we could have been a goal up, then we lose one and never seem to get back into games after that,” he said.

“It’s the goals that we’re losing that are killing us. It seems just now that we need to score first in games, like we did at Hearts.

“Luck’s a factor as well. We just need the break of the ball, and I’m sure it will change.”

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