Preview: Peterhead (H)
The Hibees are at Easter Road for our final Premier Sports Cup group stage game as we take on Peterhead!
The match takes place on Saturday 27 July, 2024, and kicks off at 3pm.
David Gray’s side come into this one off the back of a 3-2 defeat to Watford; our final pre-season friendly ahead of the 2024/25 William Hill Premiership campaign.
Josh Campbell and Harry McKirdy were on the scoresheet for Hibs as the majority of Gray’s First Team squad got 45 minutes under their belts.
THE GROUP
As we enter into the final round of Premier Sports Cup group stage fixtures, Group C is wide open with Hibernian FC, Queen’s Park, and Peterhead all sat on six points, whilst Kelty Hearts are in fourth on four points.
David Gray will be under no illusions that Hibs need to beat Peterhead on Saturday to progress in the competition and top the group.
The other fixture this weekend sees Queen’s Park take on Kelty Hearts at The City Stadium (Lesser Hampden).
If both Hibs and Queen’s Park are victorious at the weekend, Gray’s side will top the group unless Queen’s Park win by three more goals than the Hibees.
TEAM NEWS
Gray was without four First Team players through injury for our pre-season friendly against Watford. After the game he gave an update on their fitness:
“They’re all getting closer. Josef (Bursik) was more of a precaution; he had a knock but he’ll be absolutely fine by the weekend.
“Cadds (Chris Cadden) is progressing nicely. Lewis Miller was another precaution, he got a bang on his arm, so we wanted to leave him out tonight. He will be absolutely fine at the weekend and trained non-contact this morning.
“Elie (Youan) will be another couple of weeks at the moment.”
THE VISITORS
Peterhead started their Premier Sports Cup campaign with a 5-0 defeat at home to Queen’s Park, but have since been in excellent form which has given them a chance to progress into the next round of the competition.
They beat Elgin City 4-2 before backing that up with a 1-0 win away at Kelty Hearts.
Jason Brown is Peterhead’s top scorer so far in the competition following his brace against Elgin.
Managed by Jordan Brown and Ryan Strachan, the Blue Toon compete in William Hill League Two. They had a successful campaign last year getting into the Play-Offs and finishing second, but were beaten by Spartans in the Semi-Finals.
LAST MEETING
The last time Hibs faced Peterhead in the League Cup was back in August 2006 as we ran out 4-0 winners.
Peterhead defender Iain Good deflected Rob Jones' header from a Merouane Zemmama's corner past goalkeeper Paul Mathers after just six minutes, before Abdessalam Benjelloun headed our second before half-time.
Scott Brown bundled in a third after the break, with Jamie McCluskey adding the fourth from the spot after being brought down himself.
That win was the start of something special for the Hibees as we went on to lift the League Cup in March 2007!
HOW TO WATCH
Tickets for the match are now on general sale with Season Ticket Holders able to take advantage of discounted pricing!
For more information on match tickets, please CLICK HERE!
Hibs TV
The match will be streamed live on our brand-new Hibs TV site to Hibs Global members only (international subscribers), with live commentary from Cliff Pike and Joelle Murray.
Subscribers based in the UK & Ireland will be able to listen along to live audio only on Hibs TV.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to Hibs TV!
Premier Sports
This Saturday’s game will be live on the Premier Sports streaming service, which is available to Sky customers at no extra cost.
Hibs fans can watch all Hibs group stage matches exclusively on Premier Sports. Premier Sports are offering a limited-time package of £99 for an entire year of Premier Sports by using promo code FITBA99, saving £92 on the regular annual price!