Hibs will be made to wait after bidding to rack up a sixth consecutive win but boss Colin Calderwood promises they'll be ready

Hibs boss Colin Calderwood today promised he'll put this month to good use even although his side will play only one more game following tomorrow's visit to St Johnstone's McDiarmid Park.

With next weekend having been put aside for the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, the Co-operative League Cup final taking place in a fortnight and Scotland then facing Brazil in London, the Easter Road side are facing a stop-start few weeks.

They'll have ten days between tomorrow's SPL clash in Perth before playing Celtic in Glasgow, that match pulled forward with Neil Lennon's side in action against Rangers at Hampden the following Sunday and then an 18-day wait until Hearts head across the Capital for the third Edinburgh derby of the season.

All-in-all, it adds up to a difficult period for the Hibs boss but one for which he has already been making plans, determined his rejuvenated side are ready for a final push for a place in the top six.

Five successive wins, the first time Hibs have managed such a run in the league since the autumn of 2005, have re-ignited hopes of finishing the season in the top half, a prospect which seemed a forlorn hope only a few weeks ago. Four victories in February brought Calderwood the Manager of the Month Award, the Hibs boss joking that Tuesday night's win against Hamilton, coming as it did on March 1, had already rid him of the spectre of falling victim to the jinx of such a prize invariably being followed by defeat.

The 2-1 triumph over Accies lifted Hibs from tenth to eight place although they slipped to ninth after Aberdeen drew with tomorrow's opponents the following evening, the Dons and Hibs sharing identical points and goal difference, the Pittodrie outfit taking the higher spot by dint of alphabetical order. Admitting it would be interesting to find out just how clubs would be separated if that were to prove to be the case in deciding which should finish sixth and seventh should a similar situation arise in a few weeks' time, Calderwood admitted the race for top six would be a tight one.

Dundee United, who currently occupy that spot, would appear to be favourites, particularly as they have games in hand over the chasing pack, but Inverness Caley, Hibs, Aberdeen and Saints have yet to give up hope of catching them,

There is, however, little margin for error as far as each of these clubs are concerned, making the clash between Derek McInnes' Saints and Hibs crucial, the two sides locked on 31 points although the Perth outfit have played a game less.

"We had to win last Saturday," he said, "We had to win on Tuesday and I think we have to win again tomorrow. It's one game, can we win it? Yes we can."

Although he was enforced to endure a rough start to his tenure as Hibs boss, four successive defeats broken by wins over Rangers and Motherwell only to be followed by a run which saw his side take just two points from ten matches, Calderwood insisted the faith he had in his ability to turn things round had never faltered. He said: "I know my eye has always been a good judge of players, teams, situations and that led me to be positive about what we could do."

The arrival of new faces such as Victor Palsson, Matt Thornhill, Akpo Sodje, Martin Scott and Richie Towell coupled with Callum Booth's return from a loan spell with Brechin - the 19-year-old's performances awarded with the Young Player of the Month Award for February - have coincided with Hibs' charge towards the top six.

But Calderwood insisted the fans had also played their part, revealing he'd gone onto the pitch at the end of last weekend's win over Caley to show his appreciation for their support.

He said: "We threw the new lads into the mix and they've settled quite quickly. The first result over St Mirren definitely helped. The atmosphere around the stadium that night was one that was quite special, they could see the team had an eagerness and a willingness to go out and fight. The supporters have definitely jumped on that bandwagon and I feel there is a great affinity between players and fans."

While players and fans alike would probably rather have matches coming thick and fast at the moment, Calderwood admitted the fragmented nature of Hibs' fixture list over the coming weeks needed to be carefully managed.

He said: "We will need a wee bit of recovery through the month at some point and then reset ourselves for the final phase of the season. Through that time we'll do some testing and get a gauge of where we are for people who are predominantly match fit, all sorts of things that will give us a good base for next season. We will utilise it in different ways.

"We will have weekends where we will have off and days that we will have off. We will work in little patches and then make sure that we're ready. There is no reason for a pre-season for anything to happen untoward. What we want is a full tank for April onwards."