Hibs' David Marshall: We’d like to think we’re in a better place

David Marshall gives directions during Hibs' pre-season win over Edinburgh City.

David Marshall wants Hibs to prove that they have learned from last season’s slow start.

Looking to lay down a marker early on in the new campaign, the Easter Road goalkeeper says that last term proved how detrimental a slow start could be to their ambitions.

The Leith side slipped up in the group stages of the League Cup, exiting the competition before the Premiership had even kicked off, and they left themselves too much to do in the latter stages of the league campaign as they failed to get close enough to apply pressure to third-place finishers Aberdeen and were unsuccessful in usurping Hearts in fourth spot in a tense final-day derby clash. But, having managed to get several bits of transfer business concluded already, and some important players primed to return from injury, the former Scotland keeper is hopeful of better this year.

“We weren’t far away,” said Marshall. “Aberdeen won seven games on the spin and I think they almost doubled their points tally in those seven games. It shows you how tight the league is. We were disappointed at times last season, the start was quite poor, there were periods in the season we should have done better. We finished fifth and although we were really close to fourth, there is room for improvement. I think we have improved as a squad and I think there will be some other new faces joining before the window closes.”

Concluding deals early has allowed newcomers to settle in, with the likes of Adam Le Fondre, Jordan Obita and Jojo Wollacott involved in the first friendly of the pre-season, against Edinburgh City, and latest arrival Dylan Levitt joining them for the training camp in Marbella as Lee Johnson readies them for the remaining bounce games before diving headlong into competitive action on July 27, when they embark on their opening Europa Conference League qualifier, and then kickstart their Premiership season, at home to St Mirren, just over a week later.

“At the start of last season when the new manager came in there was a lot going on with the club in terms of chopping and changing so hopefully it's a bit more settled and hopefully that gives us a good base to go into the European qualifiers,” said Marshall. “It’s good to get new boys in so early. We’ve had some players that left as well and obviously Kevin [Nisbet] and Kyle [Magennis] left so we needed some numbers. What we’ve added is a bit of quality as well.”

And, with everyone getting time to develop an understanding, the 38-year-old veteran believes it will help Hibs make a more positive impact when the real action starts. “You always hope you start the season well, we didn’t last season and looking back that is maybe understandable with the changes in players and manager. It’s good to get business done early. It’s no good for the manager to be doing stuff last minute and lads leaving [just before the window closes]. We’d like to think we’re in a better place, we don’t have the cup because we qualified for Europe but hopefully when that comes around on the 27th we’re spot on.”