Two games, one goal

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Leigh Griffiths was adjudged to have gone down a little too easily on Sunday.

Leigh Griffiths has been in impressive form for Hibs this term. Picture: SNS

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heraldscotland staff

The Hibernian striker must now endeavour to ensure his side are not guilty of something similar, with the Easter Road club still not assured of avoiding relegation from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

A defeat by Kilmarnock on Sunday left Hibs six points ahead of rivals Dunfermline Athletic. Griffiths was booked for simulation during the game, a punishment which will prevent the on-loan Wolves striker from facing the Fife club at Easter Road on May 7. The ban will feel chastening for his club and irksome to Griffiths, although the 21-year-old has developed a reputation for being easily perturbed.

He can take out his frustration in Hibs' next two matches – against St Mirren and Aberdeen – to help make sure the visit of Dunfermline will have little bearing on their survival bid. "I just heard on Monday that Leigh is going to miss the Dunfermline game," said Paul Hanlon, the Hibs defender who has joined up with the Scotland under-21 squad to face Italy in a friendly at Easter Road tomorrow. "That's a major blow for us. He's been brilliant for us in recent weeks and when he's on top form he's almost unplayable. Hopefully he can put two good performances in between now and then and we'll be looking to try and be safe by the time we play Dunfermline. It's just up to him to keep playing well for us and then we'll try our best without him."Hibs will be wary of the Fife side given their battling 4-4 draw away to St Mirren on Saturday. Dunfermline were able to salvage a point despite going behind 4-2, and will now hope to use that result as a catalyst to overhaul Hibs in the table."The draw at St Mirren ensures we're better of than we were before the game," said Jim Jefferies, the Dunfermline manager. "We play first on Saturday against Aberdeen and we can get a win back before they face St Mirren. That will leave us in a position of only three points behind with three to play, and we also have to face Hibs as well. "It's all right saying we need to win on Saturday, it's about doing it on the day. It would have been all over, there is no doubt about it, if we had been beaten at the weekend and they had won but that point could end up being a significant one at the end of the day."We can take a lot of heart from it. We now need to win against Aberdeen to give Hibs something to think about when they play their match."Jefferies, meanwhile, will have to wait for news on the fitness of Jordan McMillan, David Graham and on-loan Rangers midfielder Kyle Hutton ahead of his side's meeting with Aberdeen. McMillan was yesterday sent for a scan for an abductor muscle problem, Graham has a knee injury, while Hutton has complained of feeling ill.

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Two games, one goal

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