THE LOWDOWN
After travelling to Dundee for a midweek clash, this weekend we are back at home to take on St Johnstone at Easter Road; kick-off at 3pm.
This match will be special for the club and the fans due to the recent ‘Football for a Fiver’ initiative launched by Hibs. This initiative meant that every seat, apart, from hospitality, cost £5 for supporters. Easter Road will be sold out on Saturday.
Momentum continues to build for Shaun Maloney’s side who have now gone four games without defeat.
Alongside this, his side have been resolute in recent games and have kept three clean sheets over the last four games, most recently against Dundee in a match where Hibs went down to 10 men.
As things stand, Hibs are fifth in the cinch Premiership table and only one point behind Livingston in fourth. Our opponents on Saturday, St Johnstone, sit 11th, one point above Dundee at the bottom, however, Dundee do have a game in hand meaning Saturday’s game could be crucial for St Johnstone’s survival hopes.
TEAM NEWS
Shaun Maloney’s absentee list has grown even further after our last match due to Rocky Bushiri’s red card meaning he will be suspended for Saturday’s game.
Rocky is the 11th senior member of squad to be unavailable for the St Johnstone match alongside Matt Macey, Harry Clarke, Paul Hanlon, Paul McGinn, Demetri Mitchell, Joe Newell, Kyle Magennis, James Scott, Chris Mueller and Kevin Nisbet.
On a more positive note, both Elias Melkersen and Runar Hauge made their debuts off the bench against Dundee and should be in line to make the squad again this weekend.
THE VISITORS
St Johnstone come into this match having only won one of their last six matches.
In their most recent fixture, Callum Davidson’s side narrowly lost 1-0 at the hands of the current champions Rangers. However, they did put in a valiant performance. Their last win came at home against Hearts mid-February.
So far in the league, the Saints have recorded five wins, eight draws and 16 losses leaving them one place off the bottom of the table.
Despite being in 12th-place, St Johnstone actually have the ninth best away record in the league. They’ve won three games on their travels, which is more than Motherwell, Aberdeen, Dundee FC and Dundee United. The last away win came against Livingston at the start of February.
One player to keep an eye on in Davidson’s squad is Callum Hendry (above). The striker recently returned from a loan spell at Kilmarnock and has scored three goals in the side’s last five games.
Another player to look out for is ex-Hibee Melker Hallberg who joined St Johnstone during the January transfer window.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Both of our meetings with St Johnstone this season have resulted in victories for Hibs.
Our last encounter in Perth came on 27th November in a match that saw Kevin Nisbet and Jamie Murphy net late goals to give the side three points.
