[Sport] Hibernian: Will Jack Ross' men prevail in season-defining month?

[_Happy boy]

A season-defining month for Hibernian begins this weekend with a Scottish Cup trip to the less than glamourous surroundings of Stranraer's Stair Park.

Jack Ross' side - the last team to lift the trophy before Celtic's four-year winning streak - are targeting a second run to Hampden this term after making the League Cup semi-final.

With Hibs on course for their highest Premiership finish since 2005, will Ross' first full campaign at the Easter Road helm reach a successful conclusion?

Hibs out to ease cup pain
Hibs - beaten by Hearts in the semi-finals of last season's delayed Scottish Cup - are serious contenders to again go deep.

Having skipped past the potential banana skin of in-form Championship outfit Queen of the South with a 3-1 win, Ross' men should have few problems against last-16 opponents Stranraer.

The Stair Park men are more concerned with scrambling their way out of the bottom tier and only an epic shock will see Hibs come a cropper on the Wigtownshire coast.

Once safely stationed in the last eight, a home tie against Motherwell awaits. And while the Lanarkshire side's 2-0 win at Easter Road in February serves as a lesson in taking nothing for granted, they aren't a terrifying prospect.

So the path to the semi-finals is laid out for Ross' side and once there anything can happen. Hibs' 2016 cup success as a Championship team is proof of that.

While that Hampden glory day - Hibs' first Scottish Cup triumph in 114 years - will forever be a highlight, this season's previous run at silverware promised wonderment but now brings only wince-inducing memories.

Six consecutive wins against lower-league teams left just Premiership St Johnstone between Hibs and the League Cup final.

Hibs were 17 points better off in the league, but slumped to a 3-0 Hampden defeat that again raised questions over their big-game mentality three months after after their painful extra-time loss to Edinburgh rivals Hearts.

Hibs' run-in across league and cup will test their mettle and establish if lessons have been learned.

Hibs chasing 16-year high
Amid a see-saw battle for third place in the Premiership, Hibs clambered above Aberdeen in early February and have not budged since.

The seven-point gap was reduced to four last weekend as Hibs fell to a 2-1 defeat at Rangers that had Ross bemoaning a disallowed effort from Ryan Porteous but proud of his team's efforts.

With four league games left - including a tasty encounter at Pittodrie on the penultimate match-day - the Leith men are within touching distance of their highest top-flight finish since coming third in 2005.

It is not be an achievement to be dismissed. Only twice previously - 2001 and 1995 - in the last 45 years has the club ended the top-flight campaign in such a lofty position.

It hasn't all been plain sailing either. Ross came in for plenty of stick in January as a run of one win in six was compounded by the League Cup loss to St Johnstone.

Kevin Nisbet arrived at Hibs last summer as a prolific lower-league striker untested in the top flight. Nine months later, he is a sought-after Scotland international in the frame for the Euros in June.

By then, he could have moved on from Hibs and he may not be the only notable departure. Owner Ron Gordon has admitted "one or two" of the club's most valuable players may be sold to help balance the books amid the financial strain of Covid-19.

Nisbet, 24, was subject of a failed bid from Birmingham City in January, likewise 22-year-old centre-back Porteous when Millwall lodged an offer. Full-back Josh Doig, 18, has also been linked with several English Premier League sides.

This talented young Hibs team faces losing some of the country's most exciting talent. A third-place finish and memorable Scottish Cup run will ensure they leave on a high with reputations enhanced.