Ross County make the long trip to the capital today as they take on Hibernian in what is a huge clash at the bottom end of the table.

The Hosts

Hibs are currently languishing at the bottom of the table but are only three points off Ross County in 8th.

Putting a run of wins together has been the struggle for David Grays side this season. An impressive performance against Aberdeen was followed by an outstanding 3-0 at Motherwell to give the Hibbees hope.

Arguably, it was the worst time for Gray and his side to gather some steam. Last week saw Hibs have the daunting task of travelling to Celtic Park in which they had their chances but were routinely beaten by the will-be Champions by 3-0.

Gray is urging his team to get a win to kick off a tough festive period in which they face a trip to Aberdeen and the small matter of the Edinburgh Derby in the next two weeks.

Gray said: “This weekend is an excellent opportunity because of the rewards for getting three points; that’s been the message this week.

He added: “This weekend is an excellent opportunity because of the rewards for getting three points; that’s been the message this week.”

The Visitors

With only one win in their last five, Don Cowie will be hoping they can get back to winning ways to lift them further away from the bottom of the table.

Back-to-back fixtures against the two Glasgow giants saw County pick up zero points, but Cowie was largely pleased with how they coped with Rangers last weekend.

The Staggies away form this season is Cowies biggest cause of concern however, County are without an away win since September last year.

Cowie said: “It’s another opportunity to try and end this run away from home, and we’re really motivated to put that to an end”.

Another struggle for County coming into this fixture is their lack of scoring. County have been unable to find the net in five of their last six fixtures and have only managed 12 goals across the league so far.

Cowie stressed the importance to move on from the Old Firm defeats as they face a host of sides near the bottom end of the table in a crucial December fixture list.

Cowie added: “And now we go into a really important spell, the table is very tight where we are in the league.

“I think everyone can see that. So it’s important that we rack up points in these games that we’ve got coming up, and then that gives us a real foundation to finish where we want to finish at the end of the season”

Team news

Hibs striker Mykola Kuharevich went off injured in the first half against Celtic last weekend and he will miss out today with a slight groin strain Gray confirmed. Striker Kieron Bowie remains sidelined so Dwight Gayle could lead the line for Hibs today.

Defender Marvin Ekpiteta also remains out with a thigh issue.

Ross County are boosted by the return of Kacper Lopata and Aidan Denhold, Cowie confirmed both players are in contention to start on Saturday.

Rickie Lamie and Max Sheaf are back in training but are expected to miss out whilst Will Nightingale and Ross Laidlaw are longer term injuries.

Predicted lineups 

Hibernian: Smith; Miller, O’Hora, Rocky, Iredale, Cadden; Youan, Triantis, Newell, Hoilett; Gayle

Ross County: Hamilton; Wright, Lopata, Campbell, Harmon, Brown, Randall, Nisbet, Chilvers, White, Hale