HIBERNIAN manager Mixu Paatelainen has confessed he gave his side no chance of fulfilling their European ambitions when he inherited a stuttering squad shorn of all confidence back in January.
However, barely 11 weeks on, the Finn believes the "magnificent achievement" of a third-place finish to the season is possible, although a lot will rest on the outcome of this afternoon's tough assignment away to Motherwell.
That task could be m
ade tougher by the absence of Hibs' top goalscorer Steven Fletcher, who is struggling to be declared fit after picking up a chest injury during his full international debut for Scotland against Croatia at Hampden on Wednesday.
Fletcher was withdrawn from the 1-1 draw at half-time, and was initially thought to have picked up a minor knock, but Paatelainen revealed that subsequent tests and an X-ray have shown that the 21-year-old striker has suffered soft tissue damage, and may not be risked at Fir Park today.
"Of course we are hoping Fletch will be available, but the area was still slightly swollen and sore yesterday so we will have to wait and see," said Paatelainen, who may turn to Abdessalam Benjelloun to fill the void should Fletcher fail to be declared fit.
Under Paatelainen's tutelage, the Easter Road outfit have been transformed from that which had failed to win in eight league matches and had suffered three consecutive defeats before his arrival.
A sizeable seven-point gap to Motherwell in third seemed insurmountable from their lowly eighth place but, with six wins from 10 SPL outings since, Hibs have overtaken today's opponents and sit only two points adrift of Dundee United, the new protagonists in the three-pronged race for the available Uefa Cup spot.
Yet, no doubt aware that every psychological advantage can be crucial at this pivotal stage in the campaign, Paatelainen would still rather play up the chances of Hibs' rivals as a fruitful climax to an eventful campaign lies within their grasp.
"If somebody (at the club) now feels pressure it would be wrong because we've come from nowhere to challenge Dundee United and Motherwell," he commented. "They are still the favourites to win third spot in my book, because they have done well all season.
"Obviously Hibs started the season on fire and did really well but then had a long poor spell where the confidence was lost. Now we've managed to gain back a little bit of that and hopefully we can keep going.
"When I came to the club I would probably have said I didn't think there was any chance of finishing third. So, if we were to do that it would be an absolutely magnificent achievement.
"But we still have a long way to go. Motherwell, Dundee United and us are all capable of achieving that third spot and time will tell who gets that."
Paatelainen acknowledges a win against Motherwell, who have two games in hand, would strengthen his team's prospects of clinching third but he rejects all notions they must claim all three points this afternoon.
"If we managed to get a victory on Saturday our chances of finishing third would be better," he said. "But there are lots of games still to go and we need to keep doing well in all of them."
Paatelainen, who has no worries over the problematic Fir Park pitch, will also be without injured pair Guillaume Beuzelin and Brian Kerr.
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, meanwhile, has called on his players to rediscover their scoring touch to revitalise their challenge for third spot.
They have failed to score in three games and have collected just two points from their past five matches, but McGhee believes a feeling of injustice after being denied a penalty in their 1-0 defeat at Hibs earlier this month will provide extra motivation.
Motherwell have also received a boost with the news that captain Paul Quinn, who is back from suspension, will not now require an operation on his hip injury. McGhee said: "We need somebody to play very well, to star and have a really good game. Nobody has really stood out recently and we need somebody to really shine again, and if one of our strikers was to get six or seven goals in these last games, he could make himself a real legend.
"The players have to find it within themselves because of the importance (of the match) and the fact that these opportunities don't present themselves very often. As a player I loved that idea and scored the winner in a cup final in my last game for Aberdeen, and it's a great thing to be remembered for.
"We haven't been clicking as a team recently, whether that's because we haven't played often enough or not trained consistently, or because it's late in the season. We've asked a lot of the three strikers and they're starting to get a bit of creative fatigue, but we have to ask them to dig deep.
"It would be a huge result for either team to get a victory in this game."
The full article contains 859 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
