FOLLOW US ON TWITTER | FACEBOOK
Hibs midfielder John McGinn insists the Leith side are determined to exact revenge on Queen of the South in Saturday’s top of the table Championship encounter.
Neil Lennon’s team lost their grip on the summit following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Ayr United but victory at Palmerston Park this weekend would propel Hibs back above the Doonhamers.
Queens shocked their Edinburgh counterparts when they came from behind to win 3-1 at Easter Road in the second round of the Betfred Cup last month.
And Scotland internationalist McGinn insists Lennon’s side are still smarting from that defeat.
McGinn said: “It’s a big game and we know they’re a good side. They came here and beat us and we’re still hurting from that result.
“We know if we play at our best that we can give them a right good game and that’s what we plan to do on Saturday.
“In the end our performance against Ayr wasn’t good enough, we had chances to put the game away and we didn’t do that and we paid the price.”
Hibs head coach Lennon has told his players that they have to stop relying on Jason Cummings in attack following the weekend set-back.
The Scotland Under-21 marksman has scored eight of of his team’s 12 league goals, including a stunning long range opener against the Honest Men.
McGinn, who is yet to get off the mark himself this term, agrees with the former Celtic manager.
He added: “Definitely, there’s boys, including myself, that are capable of getting a goal and we need to start chipping in or we’re not going to score.
“We can’t keep relying on him, although he’s been doing brilliantly.
“Hopefully in the weeks to come we can start sharing the goals.”
Marvin Bartley’s sending off for a challenge on Jamie Adams was the turning point against Ayr but McGinn insists the midfielder’s dismissal cannot be used as an excuse for the loss.
He added: “We’re at our best when we’re attacking and we were still creating chances. It does not matter if you have ten or eleven men, you have to prevent goals from set-pieces and we didn’t do that to start off with.
“If want to stay at the top end of the table then we have to cut them out.”
Hibs were just short in their bid to set a new club record of collecting sixth successive opening league wins at the weekend, but Lennon wants his side to string together another productive sequence of results.
He said: “All the talk had been about 100 per cent records, whilst it was good – it’s disappointing it’s gone. “This team is capable of going again, I’ve not seen any complacency within them.
“I thought the attitude was good but it’s that lack of quality, which can happen sometimes.”
