'Significantly better' - Jack Ross addresses Hibs season ahead but won't speak of targets

Hibs head coach Jack Ross has thrown down the gauntlet to his players as he urged his squad to be “significantly better” than last season.

The Easter Road club ended up seventh in the Scottish Premiership after the table was adjusted on points average following the coronavirus pandemic and the season brought to a premature end – Hibs’ lowest finish since returning to the top flight.

Now Ross has demanded big changes from his team as he targets a more successful season.

Speaking ahead of the 2020/21 season opener at home to Kilmarnock on Saturday, he said: “We need to be better than we were last year. It's very simple.

"We need to be significantly better. Where we ended up finishing, dropping out of the top six wasn't pleasing for us.”

Wingers Martin Boyle and Drey Wright have both asserted that the club should be challenging for Europe, and while Ross wouldn’t be drawn on specifics, he did suggest that the club has collective aims for the new campaign.

"Ultimately we need to be better than we were last season, and where that takes us, we'll wait and see.

"We've got ambitions that will stay within the training ground that are realistic for us.”

The head coach last spoke to the media at East Mains on March 12, barely 24 hours before the Scottish game was shut down as a result of the pandemic, and while things are slowly getting back to normal, Ross is eager for the on-field action to return.

“We are all looking forward to getting back to playing football, because when we left in March nobody would have anticipated it being so long.

“After the first couple of weeks things do become normal – yes, even getting a cotton bud stuck up your nose every couple of days.

“I have spoken to some other managers and you normally get a feel for where your players are in pre-season. This year it has obviously been more difficult.

“I suspect the Kilmarnock match will be played a little bit differently to begin with, but I still think there will be that intensity and frenetic nature you get in the opening game.”