SPECULATION is mounting that manager Alan Stubbs is a target for Bolton Wanderers, while star striker Jason Cummings could be a possible £1 million signing for Wolves, but Hibernian are too busy recovering from Saturday’s thriller against Raith Rovers to worry about such issues, writes Martin Hannan.
Ahead of tomorrow night’s first leg of the Ladbrokes Premiership semi-final play-off against Falkirk, Hibs know that recovery and preparation time will be key when they could foreseeably face five games in 12 days, including the William Hill Scottish Cup Final against Rangers at Hampden Park on May 21.
The final play-off match of the season is scheduled for the next day and Hibs will be hoping it is them who will be taking on Kilmarnock – though surely the SPFL would give Hibs an extra couple of days to recover from the final.
Defender Darren McGregor and John McGinn got the goals against Raith at Easter Road that earned Hibs a 2-1 aggregate win in the quarter-final. McGregor expects another “hotly contested” encounter between his team and Falkirk tomorrow and on Friday.
The Leith club finished third behind their opponents on goal difference, having won one and drawn three of the four league games between the two clubs.
McGregor said: “Falkirk pipped us and fair play to them. The games between us have been hotly contested, no doubt it will be like that again. We know what we have to do. We just need to concentrate on ourselves and go in there and hopefully put in a couple of good performances and the result will take care of itself. Everyone fulfilled their roles and responsibilities on Saturday. We knew we had to win, we knew it was going to be difficult with the 1-0 deficit, but we move on to Falkirk which is going to be a massive game again.”
Peter Houston’s men will be rested, but McGregor thinks Hibs’ schedule may actually assist them. He said: “You can look at it two ways. You can say the momentum we carry will stand us in good stead and you could say that them having a rest could stand them in good stead.
“For me, going in to the game we are carrying momentum and I believe that will stand us in good stead.”
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