O'Neill rules himself out of Hibs hotseat

Ex-Hibs star Michael O'Neill has ruled himself out of the running for the Easter Road hotseat, insisting he wants to extend his stay with Irish club Shamrock Rovers beyond his current three-year contract.

O'Neill was immediately installed as one of the bookies' favourites to succeed John Hughes when he left "by mutual consent" 12 days ago but today the former Northern Ireland midfielder insisted he's happy where he is. Under contract to Dublin-based Rovers to the end of next season, O'Neill, who made close to 100 appearances for Hibs, said: "At the end of the day, when a job comes up in Scotland, the media try to phone me up, try to get hold of me and try to get a comment which they never get.

"That's not my job, that's the job of others, It doesn't concern me at all.

"I came here on a three-year contract and I envisage I'll be here for three years and beyond, to be honest.

"I think we've made progress in the time we've been here and there's still a long way to go in terms of the progress I believe we can make as a club. I intend to be here to oversee that."

At present, O'Neill, who also played for Dundee United, Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Clydebank and Ayr United in Scotland as well as managing Brechin City, is locked in a tense title fight with arch-rivals Bohemians, Rovers' hopes of a first title in 16 years on a knife-edge following four defeats in their last five league games.

Bohemians are now top by a single point with only two games remaining but O'Neill can still taste glory with Rovers due to face St Pats in the semi-finals of the FAI Cup on Sunday.

Meanwhile, rumours which swept Edinburgh last night that a new management team of Steve Clarke and Billy Stark was about to be revealed are understood to be wide of the mark. Stark was said to have quit his post as Scotland Under-21 boss but it is understood that is not the case although former Chelsea ace Clarke remains the bookies' firm favourite to become the next Hibs manager.

In those circumstances, youth coach Alistair Stevenson, who has been put in charge of first team affairs with Gareth Evans, insisted it was business as usual as Hibs have prepared for their first match since Hughes' shock departure, the visit of Kilmarnock and former Easter Road boss Mixu Paatelainen.

Stevenson, who reiterated he wasn't looking beyond tomorrow's SPL clash, said: "We have only one thing in mind, we are just focused on this game.

"It would be amiss to start dreaming of other things. It was a case of 'Can we take the team, and get them in the right shape physically and mentally?' That is what we have done."

And Stevenson appealed to the home support to get behind their stars but admitted it will be up to the players to get the supporters up off their seats. He said: "The crowd is the 12th man, if we get the players playing right from the first whistle then we can get the crowd on their feet and right behind us. That would be a great lift. Players are players, when they hear the roar of the crowd it urges them on and gives them confidence. "You want to hear them support the club and support the players. If they do that then they'll get a performance and they can be proud of their team again."