PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM has urged Hibs not to let their Scottish Cup exit dent their top-six hopes.
The Easter Road side crashed out of the cup with Saturday’s disappointing 2-0 defeat to Celtic on the return to the club of former manager Neil Lennon.
The capital outfit never really looked likely to pull off a surprise and will have to raise their game for the visit of Rangers on Friday night.
Heckingbottom had presided over three straight victories after taking over last month, wins that hauled Hibs back into the top-six after a poor run of form prior to Lennon’s departure.
And the new head coach is now eager to ensure their weekend setback is not allowed to eat away at their recent Premiership positivity.
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He said: “I said to the players that in the four games we’ve had with them I can’t ask for any more.
“We can keep working to improve, but it’s been a really good four games.
“Of course, we would love to still be in the cup and be in a cup semi-final, but it was a big ask and we still acquitted ourselves to a really high level in lots of areas of the game.
“But, now, it’s done, it’s gone, and the focus is the league, which is now the most important thing.
“We’ve given ourselves a chance, with the previous three games, three really good results, and we’ll look to take a few more good results.”
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