HIBERNIAN will return to the top six if they beat Dundee at Dens Park on Friday night and have a home Scottish Cup quarter-final looming.

Sure, their leap over St Johnstone and Motherwell might not last a full 24 hours and it is Celtic that stand in their way of a another trip to Hampden; however, good times might just be around the corner.

And yet when Mark Milligan spoke about how his team still had time to turn this season around, you knew what the midfielder was talking about.

Paul Heckingbottom had two days with his new players and so any win would have done him. That his side plated well, in parts, and should have scored more than two delighted him.

And that Hibs’ campaign is far from over - is a cup win so impossible? - is something for the new manager to relish.

But there were a lot of empty seats ay Easter Road. Once Heckingbottom was awarded a warm round of applause, it wasn’t the most atmospheric of games. It’s the supporters that need turned around.

Neil Lennon made Easter Road a place to be. He’s going to be a hard act to follow.

All his replacement can do is win matches and get his team to play good football, which they did against Hamilton. The hope is that the thunder will then return.

“We definitely have the player to turn this season around,” insisted Milligan. The Australian enjoyed his best game in a while playing slightly further forward.

“We are fortunate that it’s not too late. We can only focus on what is right in front of us, which is this week’s training, and I’m sure we’ll get more information. But we have good players who are willing to learn and we can grow as a team.

“We went through what we went through. That’s always there. But we can use that to spur things on We know are a better team than the points we have put on the board so far.

“It’s been a good couple of days since he came in and it’s always nice to get a result and start well. You could see in patches what he is trying to implement with us and it’s really exciting to look forward to another week. Hopefully we’ll get an even better performance next week.

“He didn’t try to overload us, he just tried to implement his structure in the way we wanted to play. He came in with a good positive attitude.

“We spoke a lot about the things he wants from us - positivity with the ball, being aggressive. It’s hard to maintain that for 90 minutes but the intentions were right throughout.”

Hibs had this won by half-time. The stud of Florian Kamberi got the first and then Marc McNulty’s penalty gave Hamilton too much to do.

Oli Shaw is a rare talent and doesn’t lack confidence but he needs to learn that passing to a team-mare can be the right thing to do, rather than going on his own in search of goals and glory.

Twice later on in the game, the young Hibs striker was greedy when he had a pal, sometimes more than one, who had he passed to would likely have scored a third for the home side.

The Accies slipped back to eleventh, the play-off place, and with Dundee finding form and goals, that might be where they stay - unless St Mirren can put together a run of positive results.

So, is it all doom and gloom at Hamilton? not a bit of it.

“In games gone by, if we go 1-0 down the heads drop, but you don’t get that now,” said Ziggy Gordon, the Accies right-back.

“That’s not to talk ill of the previous regime, but it’s a different feel about the club.

“Although we are second bottom, it doesn’t feel like that and I think everyone watching this game could see if was maybe not a fair result and that we dug in, especially second half and we more than deserved a goal if not more.”

Gordon put this new feeling of positivity down to Brian Rice who himself has just taken his first job as manager.

“It’s a breath of fresh air.,” said Gordon. “I think you get that whenever a new manager comes in whoever it is because it gives everyone a second chance.

“If we get relegated or if we don’t, we are going to do it fighting with our chests puffed out and our heads held high.

“That’s what it’ll be to the final minute of the final game.”