Paul Hanlon wary of 'relentless' Celtic but insists Hibs cannot 'sit back and wait to be beaten'

Hibs, quite literally, weren’t in the same league as Celtic when the Parkhead side completed their Invincibles season, and although they share the same division these days, Paul Hanlon says there are still times when the defending champions appear on a different level from the rest.

Celtic put six past Hibs at Parkhead in October. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Admitting that under Brendan Rodgers, Celtic pieced together some quality performances and successful teams, the Hibs club captain, says that the current squad is every bit as dangerous.

“The one that stands out is the Brendan Rodgers team, they’d be up there with this one. They won a number of trophies back to back. This team are probably trying to get to that level.

“In terms of difficulty over 90 minutes it’s tough for anyone facing them right now - they’re all-out attack and a real force going forward with the high press and relentlessness. It’s difficult to play against and we’ll have to be prepared for it physically and mentally.”

Hibs captain Paul Hanlon is expecting a difficult match against Celtic. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

The last time they faced up, in October, Hibs headed back along the M8 embarrassed by a 6-1 thrashing, but players and staff at Easter Road believe they have learned from that and they put on a better show against Rangers at Ibrox in the first match back after the World Cup, before recording only their second win in nine, or sixth win in 13 (depending on whether the glass is half full or half empty), when they swept aside 10-man Livingston on Christmas Eve.

But, many have found it tricky to halt the defending champions. The only blemish on their domestic record this season is the defeat to St Mirren in September. That was also the only game in Scottish competition where they failed to score.

Rampant in the forward areas, there are goalscorers throughout the team, while the Premiership assist table shows five of Ange Postecoglou’s players in the top 10.

“There’s no doubt we’ll need to perform well and be solid for 90 minutes because they are relentless,” accepted Hanlon.

“No matter the scoreline, they want more. We have to be ready for that and I’m sure, especially the new lads, will be better prepared now. We need to work hard, be together and limit them to as little as possible. But we have proven in the past we can cause them trouble, especially at Easter Road.

“We have a crowd that expects to see us going forward so it won’t be a case of just sitting back and waiting to be beat. We’ll have to try to get forward and cause a bit of trouble for them as well.”

Two goals at Ibrox, followed by four against Livingston demonstrates Hibs’ ability in the forward areas, with the return of Kevin Nisbet and Kyle Magennis proving pivotal.

But, with Celtic, Hanlon admits it is harder to pinpoint their main goal threat. The team have already netted 57 in the league, 16 ahead of second-placed Rangers, while Kyogo Furuhashi is currently the Premiership’s leading scorer and Liel Abada and Georgios Giakoumakis also make the top 10.

“At the end of the day it comes down to how we all perform on the day. We know it’s going to be difficult whoever is playing in this Celtic team so we prepare as best as possible and take it from there.”