This is must win stuff. Hibs are one of our relegation rivals and if we can't beat them at home then who exactly are we going to beat? We defeated them at Greenhill Road earlier in the season and a repeat of that is a must. No ifs, no buts, no negative team line-up. We must go for them.
We are in the same sort of position we have been for the last few years, although with rather fewer points. We got ourselves into this mess and only we can pull ourselves out of it. It would be nice to think Hamilton are going to continue to struggle for the remainder of the season, but they will turn it round. We just have to make sure we do it first and sustain that form.
It is time for us to grab the initiative for once. Look at each of our relegation battling seasons under Gus MacPherson and you will see huge spells in the second half of the season before we produce a result before it's too late. Falkirk in 2009 was too close for comfort and we cannot afford a repeat of that. We simply must start clawing our way to safety and get a few more points on the board, starting off tomorrow.
Quite simply, Jure Travner has to start. The back four made up of centre halfs just doesn't work and Jure was outstanding when he came on against Inverness Caley Thistle last week. He linked up well with Paul McGowan, his delivery was fantastic and he even managed the odd bit of defending. Whether he plays in a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2, he must be included from the off. Ideally, John Potter would be the one to drop out but Danny Lennon seems to like him, so it's more likely to be Lee Mair or Marc McAusland that makes way - or one of the midfielders.
On that front, Jim Goodwin is back in contention after serving his suspension and will probably walk straight back into the side. However, this would be grossly unfair on Hugh Murray, who put in a good performance last week in his first start for nearly three months. There's also Paddy Cregg to contend with too and it wouldn't be a surprise to see two of the trio start in an ultra-defensive midfield. That is not how this game should be approached. We need points and Hibs are there for the taking, so a defensive line-up is not an option. Once again we'll have to make do without Gareth Wardlaw and David Barron due to injury. Nick Hegarty and Garry Brady are seemingly fit again.
Hibs have been horrendous this season. They may have beaten us recently, but that was their first win since November - a run of form that almost makes the barren runs of form like Gus seem successful. Thinks weren't exactly going well under John Hughes earlier in the season, but they got a lot worse when Colin Calderwood replaced him. How they managed to hammer Rangers 3-0 at Ibrox is one of life's mysteries, like us beating Celtic last season. That they've won just three times since then is no real surprise - and it's surely no shock that they managed to beat us to end a ridiculously lengthy run without a win.
They'll be pumped up coming here as they know they can beat us, even though it's over 12 years since they last won in Paisley. They might have struggled against everyone else, but they can score against us and take points from us, which could prove a crucial mental edge. They'll be looking for another good display from Derek Riordan, currently their top scorer despite poor form and injuries. Goodness knows where they'd be if they still had Anthony Stokes, but as usual they decided to take the money and run. Daryl Duffy is a decent player and Colin Nish can cause problems, but Stokes is far better. Who knows, maybe January signing Akpo Sodje will be the man to solve all their woes.
Calderwood was clearly far from impressed with the midfield he'd been left by Hughes, despite it containing the likes of Liam Miller and John Rankin. Despite that, he did a fair amount of strengthening. Martin Scott came in from Ross County, Matt Thornhill was signed from Nottingham Forest and Victor Palsson decided to swap Anfield for Easter Road. Palsson certainly seems a hard case, having tried to cripple some of our players a few weeks ago, and should help shore things up in the middle of the park.
If Calderwood didn't like the Hibs midfield, god knows what he thought of their defence considering Chris Hogg, Sol Bamba and Jonathan Grounds all left last month. Admittedly, Grounds returned to Middlesbrough and Bamba was sold for a fair chunk to Leicester, but I always thought Hogg was a decent player. Of the ones remaining, Paul Hanlon, Ian Murray and Michael Hart are usually reliable, while Celtic fullback Richard Towell has joined on loan. Mark Brown did seem to have solved Hibs' goalkeeping problems, but Calderwood's decision Jakub Davis suggests he doesn't have full confidence in the former Celtic keeper.
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