Paul Hanlon throws Hibs excuses out the window as he rejects Euro impact explanation for shocking league start

Paul Hanlon is refusing to use Hibs’ European adventures as an excuse for their shocking start to the Premiership season.

The Easter Road captain leads his side into continental competition again on Thursday, knowing they need a massive pick-me-up from an abject display at Fir Park on Sunday that saw them slump to a second successive league defeat which leaves them without a point. Hibs have a 3-1 lead over Luzern to protect but the manner in which they lost both goals to Motherwell – with defenders Lewis Stevenson and Will Fish losing physical battles against Fir Park substitute Mika Biereth – will hardly fill their fans with belief that they can finish the job to set up a mouth-watering clash with Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League play-off round.

The pressure is on manager Lee Johnson, without doubt, as he wrestles with a Thursday-Sunday-Thursday schedule that has taken its toll on his squad injury-wise. But his captain knows that’s the price of the ticket for European participation and Hanlon is refusing to feel sorry for himself or his club as they seek a solution to the inconsistencies that have blighted the start of their campaign.

Asked if the European run has made them take their eye off the ball domestically, Hanlon said: “No, that’s an easy excuse. We’ve got so many facilities and we’re in every day.

“As soon as one game finishes we’re in recovering and preparing for the next fixture. The manager and the staff are drumming it in how important it is to get points on the board.

“It’s an easy way to look at it, you assume that’s the case but I don’t think it is. You go through spells of that [three games a week] during the season anyway when there’s midweek or cup games coming up. We’re all used to