Alan Stubbs says Hibernian value promotion over Scottish Cup glory
Thursday 14 April 2016 20:23, UK
Hibernian boss Alan Stubbs says promotion to the Premiership is the top priority, despite his club looking to end a 114-year wait for Scottish Cup glory.
The Easter Road side take on Dundee United in the first cup semi-final on a newly-laid Hampden pitch this Saturday - live on Sky Sports - 24 hours before Celtic face Glasgow rivals Rangers in the other semi.
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The playing surface at Scotland's national stadium has been relaid since the Petrofac Training Cup final last weekend but Stubbs insists his side will have no trouble adapting to the new pitch.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, the former Everton and Celtic defender said: "It looks fine. It looks good and it appears to have knitted together in a short space of time.
"But I'm probably glad we are going to be the first ones to use it."
Hibs beat their Premier League rivals 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the League Cup in November, but Stubbs says the result will have no bearing on the outcome this weekend.
"We will be motivated for this game. You only have to look at where the game is being played, which is obviously very different (from last year)," he said.
"But I honestly believe that Dundee United are stronger since the last time we played so when you put them into the mix, we are going to have a difficult game on Saturday.
"Our motivation is getting to a final and what we will be focused on is beating the team in front of us, who are trying to stop us getting to another final."
A drop off in form has seen Hibs take maximum points from just two of their last 11 matches, but Stubbs is adamant promotion to the Premiership alongside Rangers is his ultimate goal.
"There is always a reason when you lose and we have contributed to that ourselves by making a couple of silly mistakes. But we need to get back to the very good form that we were in early on in the season," he added.
"Tuesday (a 2-2 draw with Falkirk) was the best performance we have put in for a while but we shot ourselves in the foot late on. But I have total belief in the players and I know we will turn our form around and I have no problem with that whatsoever.
"The priority has always been promotion but this match is the priority this weekend. All games are priorities, but we want to get up and that is our main focus and it has been all season. Nothing has changed but this is a game we are desperate to win."
