John Hughes eager for his new-look Hibs to match club's off-field strength

THE new stand at Easter Road is complete, but the rebuilding of the Hibernian side remains a work in progress. The team have lost their past six matches at their ground - the worst home run in their history. The financial results revealed yesterday were encouraging: those on the park continue to give cause for concern.

Rangers and Maribor have won at the Hibs ground this season, while at the end of last season Hearts, Rangers again, Celtic and Dundee United all left with maximum points. Hibs' last home win was all of six months ago - a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock.

There are extenuating circumstances, as ever, and this current Hibs squad is clearly far from being the worst in the club's history. Two defeats by the champions, three others against top-six rivals and one in Europe do not, individually at least, enter into the embarrassing category, and yesterday John Hughes was quick to try to dismiss the significance of his team's present run.

"The home record? It's a new season, so it's nothing," the manager said. "We've lost at home to the champions, but we gave as good as we got for an hour. It's our second home game in. Football is all fun and games, so it will turn around."

Having made six new signings during the transfer window, Hughes has been given the resources to attempt to turn things round, and a home win against Inverness tomorrow would be a significant boost. He believes his new recruits have made competition for places stiffer than before, and warned that every member of the squad will have to fight for a place in the team. "It has to be the case that nobody's place is safe," he said. "That's why we play a lot of 11 v 11 (in training]. You'll see guys looking around and asking themselves: ''Hold on, why am I not in that team?'' I want that. No-one can rest on their laurels. No-one is safe at this club.

"It's amazing what a couple of new faces do. There are about eight of them in the gym just now, doing circuits and pushing each other, and boys are coming in on their days off.

"What I've done is brought new faces here but haven't committed. Duffy is on a year's deal - go and earn it, Darryl. Big Francis (Dickoh] is a year - go and earn it.

"(Jonathan] Grounds is on loan. If we do anything with the big Lithuanian boy (trialist striker Valdas Trakys] or anyone else, they'll have to earn it."

Trakys has certainly been impressing Hughes and after the influx of Lithuanians at Hearts, he would buck the trend by joining city rivals Hibs. "He speaks good English and a lot of the Lithuanians at Hearts have said good things about Hibs and the city," said Hughes of the 31-year-old, who was due to train with Hibs again today."He's come over here and his application and attitude have been spot on."

The fear for the club's supporters is that the loss of one player - Celtic signing Anthony Stokes - could prove more significant than the acquisition of half a dozen. But Hughes, while acknowledging the striker's value to his team last season, insisted that the new recruits could soon be proving their value.

"You are always concerned that you lose 22 goals," he said of Stokes. "We've brought Darryl in. He's his own man and it's unfair to say he'll do what Stokes did - I don't think he'll score as many goals, that's for sure. He has settled in really well, played a bounce game. He's a better and more mature player than I had at Falkirk. He definitely comes into contention for Saturday, as do all the others who have come in.

"Big Francis played a bounce match the other day. Jonathan trains like he's been here for years - he really understands what we're looking for."

Hibs have just three points to their name so far in the SPL, having won their opening-day game against Motherwell and lost at St Mirren in addition to going down 3-0 at home to Rangers. Although some of the new signings are expected to toughen the team up and introduce greater experience, Hughes insisted there would be no radical rethink. He is still convinced his team are on the right track, and that carrying out his game plan more efficiently - not altering it drastically - is the key to improved results. "I won't change the philosophy. I'm banging the drum to make it quicker and sharper - that's the way we train. I want to see short, sharp, quick passing. The great sides mix it up, get up and win second balls. We're a bit too predictable.

"Darryl will give us that option of playing the ball in behind teams - he loves getting in there. That just might be something we've been missing, knowing we can bang one over the top and he'll go and get it.

"But the philosophy will never change, as long as I'm in football. We just need to do it better, quicker."