John McGlynn: Beating Partick Thistle would be 'ideal' in quest to defy the odds again and reach Viaplay Cup knockouts

The Bairns 2-1 at the Spartans in their competitive opener on Tuesday night leaves them two points behind Thistle going into this weekend's match at Firhill, with Dundee United already out of the equation in terms of qualification.

"If we can beat Partick that would be idea,” McGlynn said. “We are third seeds and we have no divine right to go through. We did last year but when you look at budgets that should have never happened, Hibs should have been miles ahead.

“But it can happen. Look across the board and you see that crazy results happen at that time of the season. Sometimes the seeding goes out of the window. We have got a good chance.

"Six points would put in a strong position with two games to go after that. We have shown beforehand that can rise to the challenge in these type of matches.”

However, the Bairns boss stresses that it won’t be an easy game, and that his side will need to take their chances against a ‘very impressive’ Thistle outfit who narrowly missed out on promotion last term.

He added: “It is going to be a much more open game (than against The Spartans) so that will suit us. That is the type of game we want to play in. It is up to us to take our chances, that is what I think it will probably come down to on the day.

“We are an attacking team and we go out to win matches. All we can do is train well and prepare well because you cannot guarantee that you will score goals.

“Some players have a knack for it. The top players like Harry Kane have it and that is why they got so much money, we don’t have that so we have to work with what we have got and I think we do that very well.

“We know over the course, to win a league, that our goals for and goals against will need to be better. We are close and we were close last season, but we need to improve those numbers.

“I think we have got our recruitment right in terms of quality. Ross MacIver has scored two in two which is great. Tom Lang got a goal too and he had a few headers in the box which we have been missing.

“Partick Thistle had an amazing end to the season. It just got better and better for them and they will be gutted that they didn’t get up last season. They were so close to it and it will still hurt.

“They have seen players move on but actually they aren’t that different and they are a very good team. The new replacements have been very good signings as far as I can see – I watched them on Tuesday night (against Dundee United) and the style of play was very impressive and just like how they played in the play-offs, I was very impressed.”

Team news

Gary Oliver and Jordan Allan are available for selection after serving suspensions from the previous campaign on Tuesday night. Goalkeeper Nicky Hogarth has returned to training and could make the matchday squad. Meanwhile, Aidan Nesbitt and Liam Henderson are still out completely as they recover from injuries picked up in pre-season.