John Hughes indebted to Easter Road staff for getting game on

HIBS boss John Hughes today revealed how he'd thanked the Easter Road stadium staff for helping his side avoid the fixture backlog facing some SPL clubs.

With next Wednesday's re-scheduled league clash at St Johnstone having now been postponed due to the Perth side having a Scottish Cup clash with Forfar still to play, Hughes says he was delighted that his own team's fourth-round tie with Irvine Meadow was able to go ahead at Easter Road despite the recent bad weather.

"I was really pleased that we were able to play our game last weekend and that's why I thanked the stadium staff for the wonderful job they did," he said.

"It means that we can concentrate on league business at a time when some other clubs in the SPL are playing catch-up."

Hibs are already due to play two midweek games in the coming weeks – away to Celtic on Wednesday, 27 January and then Aberdeen at home on Wednesday, 10 February. With the St Johnstone game to be slotted in somewhere, that means Hibs could be faced with a schedule of three midweek games in a row but Hughes insisted: "If we can keep clear of injuries and suspension, I feel we have a squad that can handle a schedule like that."