Shaun Maloney has challenged Hibernian to show their “personality” as they prepare for a huge period in their season.
The Easter Road’s top-six hopes are in the balance as they prepare to host fourth-place Dundee United on Saturday before travelling across Edinburgh to face third-place Hearts in their last two matches before the cinch Premiership split.
The weekend after their trip to Tynecastle, they face the Jambos again at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final.
Maloney knows the next three games will go a long way to defining Hibs’ campaign and he wants to see his players thrive on the pressure.
“Saturday against Dundee United is a really big game and then we have an even bigger game the week after and then another big game,” said the Hibs manager. “It feels like the big games are coming each week at the moment.
“I really hope that in these big games we show a real personality. I don’t have any questions about us competing because we’ve shown real desire not to get beat in the last few weeks, even in the moments at Aberdeen when we were down to ten men, but I really want us to go and show a level of performance under the most pressure, starting this weekend.”
Maloney took over from Jack Ross in December when Hibs were seventh in the league, so he feels securing a top-six finish would be a sign of progress, albeit his ambitions are higher than that in the longer term.
“Top six is something I want to achieve,” he said. “If we get into the top six I think that would be a success considering where we were when we came. I think it would definitely have an impact on the budget for next season so there are big things at stake.
“That’s not something that is a daily thought for me though. My main focus is on the performance of the team. I don’t tend to think on a daily basis about the budget.”
Maloney’s squad remains stretched by injury and suspension. Key centre-back Ryan Porteous is beginning a four-game ban after the club failed in a bid to have his red card at Aberdeen a fortnight ago overturned. While he feels the defender was slightly hard done by on this particular occasion, he acknowledges the 23-year-old must improve his discipline overall.
“We were disappointed with it not being overturned, but probably more disappointed at the extra game being handed out after the appeal,” said Maloney, who also confirmed that long-term injury victim Kyle Magennis is unlikely to play again this season. “Hindsight’s great but I still genuinely felt we could have had it overturned.
“It was tough for Ryan. He’s obviously had a lot of things like this to deal with this season, some on the field, some off it. But my job as manager is to support him and work with him to improve how many games he is available for. If we can do that, and we have to do that next season, I believe he can be a really good centre-half, internationally as well as for Hibs.”
