Hibernian's quest to secure a place in the top half of the Scottish Premiership before the league splits will continue when they host St Johnstone on Saturday.
The visitors have failed to win a game in their previous three outings and are currently concentrating on staying outside the relegation zone.
Match preview
With just two matches left before the Scottish Premiership splits for the final section of the season, pressure is starting to mount on teams to secure their positions, and Hibernian are certainly feeling that.
The Hibees are right in the mid-table mix at the moment, but as it stands, they would miss out on a place in the top half as they sit one point behind Dundee.
That is why Nick Montgomery's men cannot afford to slip up this weekend, which means they need a stronger performance than their most recent outing against Rangers, which saw them defeated 3-1.
It will also be in the back of the minds of the Hibernian fans that they were also beaten the last time they played St Johnstone in what was a close encounter that saw Graham Carey's goal be the difference-maker as it finished 1-0.
The Hibees have picked up slightly more points at home this season, which could put some confidence into the squad heading into Saturday, but results between the two teams have historically gone back and forth.
St Johnstone have 16 wins against Hibernian, while the hosts have defeated their opponents 15 times over the years, and there have been 11 draws in total.
Sharing the points would not be overly beneficial to either team right now due to how much each needs a victory, particularly the visitors.
The Saints are currently involved in a fight for Scottish Premiership survival, sitting just a single point above the relegation playoff spot, with Ross County sure to put pressure on them during the run-in.
Craig Levein's team is guaranteed to be in the bottom section when the division splits after next weekend, so the focus for them is simply on picking up as many wins as possible between now and the end of the season.
However, St Johnstone will need to concentrate until the very end this time after they were taught a cruel lesson by Dundee about concentration in the latter stages of last weekend's match.
After a dreadful start to the game, Adama Sidibeh brought the Saints level with a second-half equaliser, only for the Dark Blues to win it in the 80th minute, which is something the team can ill-afford to repeat this time out.
Team News
Myziane Maolida is the danger man for Hibernian at the moment as he heads into this weekend having scored in four consecutive games, which should guarantee him a place in the starting XI.
Jake Doyle-Hayes, Dylan Vente, Luke Amos, Lewis Miller and Josh Campbell were all unavailable for the Hibees against Rangers last weekend, but the latter pair have been back in training which could see them fit enough to feature in some capacity this weekend.
Sven Sprangler is an injury concern for the visitors after he missed out on the game against Dundee before the international break, and he will remain out with his knee ligament problem.
The central midfielder joins Drey Wright, Ross Sinclair and Cameron MacPherson in the medical room, with all three men unavailable this weekend.
Hibernian possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Cadden, Fish, Bushiri, Obita; Triantis, Newell; Youan, Marcondes, Maolida; Le Fondre
St Johnstone possible starting lineup:
Mitov; McGowan, Gordon, Robinson; Keltjens, Kucheriavyi, Phillips, Smith, Gallacher; Sidibeh, Clark
We say: Hibernian 2-0 St Johnstone
St Johnstone might need points desperately to aid their fight for survival in the top flight, but Hibernian should have too much quality for them here.
The Hibees want to be part of the top half when the table splits and their stronger home form should help to push them one step closer to achieving that.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
