Same again from Hibs against Dundee on Saturday will do nicely for Jack Ross, but he wants a little extra from his team this time.
Namely, a clean sheet after the Hibees back line has wobled a bit in recent weeks following a rock solid start to the season.
A 4-1 win against Dundee in their final group game was their last win, with goals conceded becoming a slight problem since.
They twice fell behind at St Johnstone at Easter Road on Wednesday, just days after throwing away a two-goal lead against Celtic at the same venue.
Ross hasn’t seen his team keep a clean sheet for almost a month, and wants to see the same attacking verve in the last 16 of the Betfred Cup as he did in the final group game while keeping the back door shut.
“We want to win the tournament,’ said Ross. “Saturday offers us a chance to get to the quarter-finals.
“It’s against familiar opponents because obviously we had them in the group stages.
“If we can play with the same attacking intensity as we did in that last group game, then we’ll create and score but we need to return to that real hunger to make sure teams don’t score against us.”
At the other end of the pitch, Jamie Murphy is starting hit form in green and white after taking a few weeks to get up to speed, and Ross believes fans are starting to see the best of the former Rangers winger.
“The run of games is really helping him,” he told Hibs TV. “I think he’s an outstanding footballer.
“I probably got it a bit wrong in the second half of Tuesday when I changed the system and played him more centrally and we lost a little bit of his threat.
“When we returned him to a wide area, we got that again.
“But his individual form is very good at the moment. He’s in a good place and I’m delighted that we;re starting to see the best of him.”
