We are in a decent run of form at the moment, but the tight nature of the SPL means we are still in 11th place. Despite that making the top six is still a realistic proposition and Europe isn't completely out of the question. However, we need to start getting some wins pretty quickly if we are to have any hope. Since beating Dundee in November we've lost only twice but we've probably drawn too many games for Danny Lennon's liking. If we can convert some of them into victories before the split we have a chance - however time is running out. We have only eight league games left before teams go their separate ways and we probably need to win at least half of them to give ourselves a chance. On the plus side we hopefully won't be involved in a relegation battle, as long as Dundee don't go on a great run of form or we have an equally bad one.
We used to have a pretty good home record against Hibs. For some reason they couldn't buy an SPL win in Paisley, which was rather handy in the years we were deep in the middle of a relegation fight. However, in the last couple of seasons they seem to have cracked the code and have won on three of their last four visits - two of those successes rather embarrassingly coming when Colin Calderwood was in charge. Their last trip to Greenhill Road saw the third of those wins but was forgettable for another reason as it saw Darren McGregor suffer a serious knee ligament injury for the second season running.
There's no reason why we can't take three points from this one. The mood around the Saints camp at the moment is good with a cup final coming up, some strikers in decent form and the team having recovered well from their shocker against Ross County. Hibs are in a bit of trouble at the moment after losing at home to St Johnstone on Monday night, but they weren't in great form before they came to Paisley earlier in the season. If we go into it with confidence and belief we can come out of it with a win, especially if we go at them and don't let them settle rather than sit back and let them come into the game. As Hibs have only won once in their last 10 games it does seem like a classic opportunity for us to mess things up!
The Saints team that started against Aberdeen last week was a bit surprising and both David van Zanten and Graham Carey can feel slightly aggrieved at being benched, while John McGinn was probably a bit surprised to not even make the squad. Considering we didn't concede any goals it wouldn't be a shock to see us go with the same defence, although we did look a bit more solid when Vanzy played instead of Barron when we managed three wins in a week. He's in line to make his 300th Saints appearance and would probably quite like to do it against his old club.
Changes in defence are all I can see, with McGinn and Carey probably having to make do with a place on the bench at best. We didn't create any goals last week but who would you drop to change things? Conor Newton has picked up a few assists since arriving from Newcastle, Kenny McLean is getting back on form and Gary Teale and Paul McGowan have been terrific lately. Up front Ismael Goncalves and Steven Thompson had a rare off week but hopefully they'll be back to their best tomorrow, Goncalves capable of giving any defence a torrid time.
Back in the summer you'd have been a brave man to bet on Pat Fenlon still being in charge of Hibs at this stage of the season. They went into the campaign on the back of that embarrassing Scottish Cup final defeat to Hearts and were hammered on the opening day by Dundee United. However, the Irishman has managed to ride out that storm and while there are still doubters, especially as they are still looking for their first league win since beating Celtic at the end of last year, he has the Hibees sitting fifth in the table - the close nature of the league this season meaning a few points either way would have them in the European places or only just above us! Fenlon has done well to turn things around at Easter Road and has carried out a fairly major overhaul of the squad. They still have a chance to end their Scottish Cup hoodoo, making the quarter-finals after seeing off Aberdeen.
One possible explanation for why our form against Hibs used to be so good in Paisley was their goalies. Zbigniew Malkowski and Yves Ma Kalambay were both fairly useless, the latter in particularly helping us to at least one win with partner in crime Rob Jones. Sadly Fenlon seems to have finally found a decent goalie for Hibs in the shape of Ben Williams. Admittedly, I wasn't too impressed with him earlier in the season but he seems to be doing a good enough job and has managed to avoid the howlers while saving a pretty impressive five penalties out of the seven he has faced. Skipper James McPake also seems to be a far more solid defender than Jones, who was punted a few years back, while Ryan McGivern has been terrific since he came in on loan from Manchester City at the start of the season. The fact that has been extended to the summer can only be good news. Tim Clancy and Alan Maybury have also helped plug the backline to the extend the comically bad Pa Kujabi hasn't been seen since the shock League Cup exit to Queen of the South.
Having found a solid keeper, Fenlon has also signed a midfield gem in the shape of Paul Cairney. He's stepped up from Partick Thistle and has looked a real find, scoring a few goals and setting up plenty for his team mates. Apparently we had him as a youngster so he'll no doubt be fired up for tomorrow. Tom Taiwo should also have been a good signing since he opted to swap Carlisle for the capital but he seems to have struggled so far, surprising seeing as he usually popped up with a good performance on the Football League Show. Jorge Claros's loan has been extended to the summer, Scott Robertson has come in from Blackpool and Matt Done has been borrowed from Barnsley, while David Witherspoon's rare goals often come against us. As an aside, it's good to see Gary Deegan back fit after being assaulted shortly after his arrival from Coventry and he scored a screamer against Aberdeen in the cup.
For all that you could slate Colin Calderwood's time in charge of Hibs he did manage to do at least one thing right - sign Leigh Griffiths. The Wolves striker is now in his second season on loan at Easter Road and he could stay there permanently, although the English Chapionship side may be after a fairly sizeable fee for him. Quite why Wolves don't want him is a mystery as none of their other strikers are exactly scoring on a regular basis and Griffiths' return of 16 goals so far this season shows he can cut it at a decent level. Eoin Doyle has also improved over the campaign which is probably just as well as bringing in Shefk Kuqi hasn't yet paid off.
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