Reaching Conference League would be massive achievement for Hibs, says Junior Hoilett

Junior Hoilett says it would be a massive achievement for Hibs if they could secure a place in the Conference League.

David Gray’s side face Legia Warsaw in the second leg of their play-off tie in Poland on Wednesday night aiming to overturn a 2-1 deficit from last week’s match at Easter Road.

Legia looked nailed on as favourites to reach the League Phase of the competition when they raced to a 2-0 lead in Leith but Josh Mulligan’s late goal has given Hibs hope they can turn things around in Warsaw against the odds.

Hoilett believes that winning in Poland would be huge and proof of how the club and team have improved.

“It would be a big, massive achievement for not only the team and individuals, but a massive achievement for the club,” he said. “Seeing the progression and how the club is going in the right direction.

“To have a chance for one game to make it into the group stage in Europe, that would be a massive achievement.

“To get the goal back to give us a chance in the second leg was a massive, massive boost

“It gives us confidence going in there, knowing that we could go get a result.”

Hoilett believes that while the ability of the Legia side was there for all to see in the first leg, he and his teammates also saw how they could hurt the Polish side.

“Yeah, of course, we’ve seen they are a talented group and we’ve seen their strength and where they can hurt us,” he said.

“But also, we have to look back on what we could do to them. We caused them trouble at our place and we’ve seen their weaknesses.

“We just have to capitalize on that going into the away leg.”

Hibs could be in for a long night, with extra time and penalties a possibility if they win by one goal over the opening 90 minutes.

Hoilett says a huge effort will be required from everyone involved if the Premiership side are to achive their aims.

“The manager always says you’re only as good as how you finish, and it’s a team game with the squad and the bench playing a massive part.

“We’ve seen that we have a lot of strength on the bench to help the boys and help the team to get a result.”

Hibs started the season in Europa League qualifying, losing to Midtjylland before defeating Partizan Belgrade in the Conference League third round to reach this stage. That’s built some more experience in the squad and raised their level, according to the winger.

“It’s been great experience, playing against different teams and different atmospheres,” Hoilett said. “And it shows the levels and how we competed in each game.

“I think we’ve shown what we’re capable of and we’ve still got more to build on.

“We’ve got to bring those confidence of what we’ve experienced so far into this final game.”