Faltering Hibs must pull themselves together ahead of top-six shootout with St Johnstone

As recently as the start of last week, Hibs looked to be sitting pretty with regard to finishing in the top-six of the Scottish Premiership.

Jack Ross's sixth-place side, considered to be in fine form at that point, were five points clear of seventh-place Kilmarnock and eighth-place St Johnstone (albeit the latter had a game in hand). They were also within five points of third-place Motherwell and four of Aberdeen, both of whom had been wobbling while Hibs were enjoying a promising start to 2020.

Given that they had lost only one game in the calendar year (away to Rangers) and were fresh from having defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 5-2 in the Scottish Cup, it seemed perfectly reasonable to consider free-scoring Hibs a live contender to finish third in the Premiership.

Fast forward less than a week, however, and the landscape has changed dramatically for Hibs. Two demoralising 3-1 defeats at the hands of Hearts and Aberdeen have had the effect of damaging their European prospects; they are now nine adrift of Motherwell and eight behind the Dons after Steven Whittaker's red card at Pittodrie on Saturday effectively counted as the pivot for a significant six-point swing between the two teams.

More pertinently, Hibs' top-six status (which they have enjoyed in each of the previous two seasons) is now in real jeopardy, with on-form St Johnstone mounting a strong surge to take their place. Tommy Wright's side looked to be in a relegation battle earlier in the season but are now just a point behind Hibs (still with a game in hand) ahead of what has now become a huge match between the two mid-table teams at Easter Road this Saturday.

Saints have lost only two of their last 15 league matches and are unbeaten in their last seven. The Perth side head to Leith buoyed by a knowledge that they haven't lost in their last five away matches against Hibs, taking 11 points from a possible 15 at Easter Road since they last lost there in August 2012.

With sections of the Easter Road support growing increasingly critical towards the team over the past five days, Hibs need to rediscover the poise, authority and goal threat that brought them impressive back-to-back wins at home to Ross County and away to Kilmarnock just a matter of weeks ago. Defensive vulnerability (as a team, not just among those who play at the back) has been a theme throughout the season, and clearly continues to be a problem.

As flagged up by one statto on twitter, Hibs have already conceded 49 league goals - ten more than they lost in the entirety of last term. This is a truly remarkable state of play given that there are still eight games remaining of this season and Hibs didn't even have a particularly impressive campaign last year. These alarming cracks at the back can only be papered over if the team is scoring goals at the impressive rate which they had been prior to the mood-damaging home defeat by Hearts.

Saints are not a particularly prolific side but given their recent exploits at Easter Road and the fact Hibs clean sheets have been so rare this term, it seems highly likely that Ross's team will have to score at least twice on Saturday if they are to have a chance of winning this weekend's critical showdown. Both Hibs and Saints face Hamilton Accies and Celtic in their other pre-split fixtures, while the Perth side also have a game in hand away to Rangers.

With confidence dented and striker Marc McNulty still suspended, a serious test of character beckons for Hibs as they bid to regain the initiative in what has suddenly developed into a fraught battle to finish in the top six. Given their impressive mid-season recovery under Ross, ending the campaign in the bottom half of the Premiership for the first time since they were relegated in 2014 would count as a notable setback in Hibs' bid to assert themselves as one of Scottish football's most pre-eminent teams.