Hibs kids back in lessons

But if they thought their days in the classroom were behind them, they've been forced to think again as the Hibs boss has conducted a series of master classes on tonight's UEFA Cup rivals, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Like the rest of us, Mowbray's squad knew little - if anything - about the Ukranian outfit but, as Kevin Thomson revealed today, by the time they run out to face a side which reached the final 32 of last season's competition there will be little they don't know about their opposition.

Mowbray and chief scout John Park made the 3600-mile round trip to Dnipro within days of the draw in Monaco pitching the two sides together and in the intervening period Hibs have built up a substantial dossier.

That has provided the basis for Hibs' preparations for tonight's match and if the tangible signs of Mowbray's thinking on how this first-round tie can be won has been the 4-5-1 formation used to great effect against Rangers and Dundee United, Thomson lifted the lid on the meticulous planning which has taken place over the past few days.

He said: "I think if you look through the UEFA Cup you will see a lot of teams you don't really know a lot about.

"This week training has been short and sharp with a lot of time spent studying Dnipro, their formations, systems and players.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much explained. We watched a video on Monday which the gaffer kept starting and stopping, showing us their strengths and weaknesses.

"He also had a big binder in which were all their moves, their key players, what they do, how they attack, how they defend and so on. There was a lot of information to take in but the gaffer has certainly done his homework."

Now it will be up to Thomson and his team-mates to apply what they have been taught, not only over the 90 minutes tonight but the return leg in the Ukraine in a fortnight's time with the hope being, of course, that Hibs will have a lead of some sorts to take with them.

Thomson said: "Dnipro's results in the UEFA Cup last season speak volumes for them, they won their group stage against sides such as Club Brugge, Zaragoza and Utrecht so they will be no pushovers by any means.

"The fact they have had a poorish start to their own domestic season means nothing - any side can have a bad spell."

Dnipro will also be hampered by injuries and suspension to key players tonight but Thomson believes they'll also be in a similar position to Hibs in having had a lot of homework to do in a short space of time. General manager Andriy Stetsenko and assistant coach Vadym Tyshchenko were dispatched to watch Hibs against United, but one wonders if they would have bothered had Mowbray's side not enjoyed that 3-0 win at Ibrox a fortnight earlier.

Scotland Under-21 star Thomson said: "Compared to the SPL, where the chances of a side springing a surprise are slim, we are probably going in against each other a wee bit blind.

"I cannot imagine that they knew much about us until we beat Rangers just as we didn't know too much about them when the draw was made other than it's a long, long way to the Ukraine.

"We know they watched us on Saturday and it is nice to see they are showing us a lot of respect just as we are them."

The tactics, formation and personnel to be deployed by Mowbray tonight will, of course, remain a secret between him and his players until kick-off but, despite being tagged underdogs, Thomson insisted he and his team-mates believe they can see off Dnipro's challenge and progress to the lucrative group stages.

He said: "I think if anyone believes we can't do it then they shouldn't be here. I feel we should treat it as if we were playing one of the Old Firm, to get about our business, play to a high tempo and make it hard for them.

"But we also have to adopt a different mind-set. This tie will be settled over 180 minutes, not just the 90 we play tonight.

"When you win 2-0 in the SPL you take all three points. But if we were to win 2-0 tonight and then lose 3-0 over there then we leave with nothing.

"Hopefully, we can establish a lead to take to the Ukraine and then it will be a different situation entirely and, I am sure, different tactics again from the gaffer and we'd then have to learn how to win a tie by putting the two games together."

And while Hibs have earned a deserved reputation for playing an expansive, entertaining style of football, Thomson admitted he wouldn't mind if the two games against Dnipro turned out to be "the most horrible" he'd ever played in provided, of course, that Mowbray's players come out on top over the piece.

He said: "Last week when I went to Norway with the Under-21s we scored then sat in and defended.

"That's not my type of football but you have to win games.

"The gaffer is trying to hammer home the point that sometimes, if it is all about winning, games can be horrible. Obviously we'd like to win by playing entertaining football but the fans have to appreciate that progressing to the group stages is the main thing."

Like most of his team-mates, Thomson will be experiencing European football for the first time but he still has memories of Hibs' last such adventure, the second leg against AEK Athens at Easter Road.

He said: "I'd just come into the club full-time at that stage and I was travelling up and down from Peebles with Nick Colgan. Nick always got excited before games but, at the time, I couldn't understand why he was getting so excited about AEK.

"But the atmosphere that night was phenomenal, it just made me think that I wanted to be involved in such an occasion and now I find myself as excited at the prospect of tonight's game as Nick was then.

"Like that night we are going to have virtually every fan inside the ground behind us so hopefully they'll make as much noise as they can and I am sure the boys will do them proud."

Tonight's match is the second of seven in the space of 21 days for Hibs, but having missed most of last season through injury, Thomson insisted he was actually looking forward to such a gruelling schedule.

He said: "It's a lot of games but I want to play in every game - if there was a game every day of the week I'd want to play.

"Because of my injury I feel as if I am playing catch-up with the rest of the boys. They all seem to have played 100 games while I am just like a young boy trying to get back into the team I love once again."