Jack Ross insists he has the “guts” to lead Hibs into Europe and ensure they don’t just keep themselves afloat.
The Hibees will take part in the Europa Conference League next season after finishing third in the Scottish Premiership.
However, yesterday’s Scottish Cup final defeat to St Johnstone means the Easter Road club missed out on a place in the Europa League play-off round.
But Ross is determined his team will go into the competition to compete and not just make up the numbers.
He said: “I don’t want us to go and tread water,” said Ross “I’ve been constant with this and I’ve got the guts to do it. Not every Hibs manager has, but I have set big ambitions and I’ve got the guts to say that I don’t want to qualify for Europe just to play two games.
“We want to go to stay in the tournament, irrespective of which one we’re in. That’s the driver for us. We need to put together a squad to prepare in a manner that allows us to do that.”
Ross also hit out at reports that a number of his stars could leave the club this summer.
Josh Doig, Kevin Nisbet, Ryan Porteous and Martin Boyle have all been linked with moves away from Leith, but as far as Ross is concerned Saturday’s Hampden disappointment wasn’t their last game in a Hibs shirt.
He added: “I think a lot of it was media driven, which was interesting in the build-up to a final. Not a single one of those players has given me any indication they felt that was their last game.
“Now, that might prove to be the case because there are a lot of things outwith my control that can happen over the next few weeks. But never was it in anybody’s thoughts that that group was splitting up after this.
“We’ll see what the next few weeks bring. It’s my job to put together the puzzle pieces, whether it’s that same group or I need to make changes to it.
“But, when you have a season like we’ve had you want to keep them together and strengthen and improve. If we lose our good players then that makes us weaker and we have to find replacements.
“For me selfishly as a manager I want to keep the group together. But I’m sensible enough to know that’s not just my decision. We’ll see what the coming weeks and months bring.”
