Derek Riordan has been heroic in backs-to-the-wall derby wins for Hibs.
Now the former Easter Road icon insists his old club have to somehow find a way to conjure their own turnaround to save their season in Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts.
Shaun Maloney ’s team head to Hampden under a cloud after a desperate run that has sapped confidence from the squad and belief from fans.
Hibs have recorded just one win in 13 league games since the turn of the year while their miserable defeat at Tynecastle four days ago consigned them to a place in the bottom six for the post-split campaign.
A second successive reverse at the hands of Hearts would bring a brutal end to their season. Maloney and his men are on the ropes ahead of their trip to Glasgow but Riordan is adamant that should only serve to fire up the camp.
The ex-playmaker has been there. He’s been in Hibs teams who have been given no chance of defeating their biggest foes, only to come out victorious.
Riordan scored a spot-kick winner for a depleted Mixu Paatelainen team on one such occasion across the capital in 2009 and is desperate for this squad to produce another unlikely outcome.
He said: “You need to try to find hope and positives.
“I can think back to a game we won at Tynecastle when I actually scored the winner with a penalty.
“Things weren’t going so well for us going into that game. I’m not even sure that we even sold all of the tickets for our stand that midweek because there was a feeling that we would lose.
“Nothing was expected of us that night at Tynecastle. We were missing a lot of players due to injuries and suspensions. We had nowhere near our strongest team on the park.
“Hearts were mega favourites and it is almost the same going into the semi-final on Saturday.
“It was late in the game and I was brought down by [Christos] Karipidis. He was red-carded for it and I scored.
“That was a match where no one expected from Hibs and this semi-final has the feeling of a very similar situation.
“The way I see it, there’s nothing to lose now. Hearts are even bigger favourites after last weekend’s result and Hibs are being written off.
“Maybe that situation will help some of the players in the team. Maybe some of them
are struggling with the pressure and it might free them up.”
After an encouraging start following Maloney’s unveiling, with three wins coming in the manager’s opening four games at the helm, the wheels have crashed off.
Hibs are struggling at both ends of the pitch.
Only five goals have been scored in the past seven games and they are leaking at the other end. It’s been a hard watch for supporters and Riordan added: “Someone told me the other day that Hibs have only won one out of their last 13 matches in the league.
“I don’t think it is being unfair to anyone to suggest that is simply not good enough for a Hibs team at any time.
“I was away for a few days last week and I watched the game from Tynecastle on my phone.
“When I saw the line-up, I noticed that Sylvester Jasper wasn’t playing and he’s probably been about the best player in the games I’d watched.
“I have been concerned for a little while that Hibs haven’t been good enough and it has turned out that is the case in terms of not making the top six.
“Dropping into the bottom half of the table is a big blow. It is worrying to look at the league and see the possibility is still there, with five games to go in the season, that they could finish up 10th.
“There are only two points between Hibs in seventh and the teams that are sat in ninth and 10th. That is the reality of the situation right now.
“There are periods in games where I have felt the team just hasn’t looked a threat and I can’t put a finger on why.
“Things have to improve.”
Finding that improvement at Hampden would cure some of the ills and give supporters a chance to look forward to another domestic cup final appearance.
Riordan knows it would not solve all of the issues in one go but it would provide a welcome release for the Leith faithful.
He said: “Hibs are not fancied at Hampden and that’s fair enough given what’s been happening.
“But this is a huge opportunity to do something against the odds and that’s a scenario the players should grasp.
“Would winning paper over cracks? Maybe some but that does not matter at the moment. It would still
be brilliant.”
