Livingston boss David Martindale has warned his players that they face a different Hibs side to the one they swept aside last season.
The Lions picked up three consecutive wins – against three separate managers – over the Easter Road outfit during the previous campaign but Martindale insists that will have no bearing when the sides face-off at the weekend.
And the Livi gaffer heaped praise on the Hibees’ summer recruitment ahead of the fixture.
Speaking to the Courier, he commented: “They’ll be on a high from Sunday and they’ve just signed Martin Boyle which I think is huge for them.
“It’s a different animal that you’re coming up against from last season. You’ve got David Marshall who is one of the best keepers in Scotland and a lot of their signings have looked decent.
“I think they’ve recruited fairly well but they’re probably waiting a wee bit to build up relationships and continuity on the park.
“It’s not really the Hibs that we’ve faced previously so in some respects we don’t really know what we’re going to be coming up against.”
Martindale also believes the capital club have taken a similar path to themselves in the early stages of the season with less than stellar League Cup displays making way for significant improvement once the Premiership action got underway.
That’s something he’s keen to build on at the weekend.
He added: “I don’t think you can read too much into their Premier Sports Cup games. A bit like ourselves, the performances were sporadic with some good moments.
“Then you look at the levels we’ve managed to get to in the two league games it’s really been night and day. I think they’ll be a huge threat and I’m actually really looking forward to it.
“It will be a challenge but we’re at home and we’ve got to fancy our chances.”
He added: “It’s still early in the season so we’re both still trying to find our feet a wee bit and learn our identity and the other teams in the league.
“It will be a difficult challenge and something completely different to previous Hibs teams.”
Livingston go into the clash with no new injury worries. Defender Morgan Boyes continues his return from a summer operation but is still a couple of weeks away from consideration.
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