Hibs' Jake Doyle-Hayes snubs Hearts big nights as he goes back to scene of memorable tie

Hibs midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes played in Friday's 2-1 victory over Groningen.

Jake Doyle-Hayes did his best to side-step Hearts’ European experience last term.

Disappointed not to be in the thick of things themselves after they failed to get close to the European spots due to a bottom six finish in the Premiership the previous season, he says it was too painful to watch their neighbours enjoying the fruits of their labours as part of the Europa Conference League group stage.

So instead, he found something else to do when the money-spinning matches were on television. “It was tough and I tried not to watch their games, to be honest,” said Doyle Hayes. “I avoided them all actually!” But the anguish was used to fuel Hibs' desire and, while they passed up the opportunity to leapfrog Hearts into fourth spot on the final day of their league campaign, fifth place proved enough to grant them entry into this term's Europa Conference League qualifiers, one round before the Gorgie outfit. Their European adventure starts on Thursday when they face Inter Escaldes from Andorra.

“We wanted to be there and always want to be in Europe,” said Doyle-Hayes. “So we set out last season to make sure we got Europe this season and managed to do it. We’re there now so we need to push on and get to the group stages.”

It is only two years since Hibs last travelled to Andorra, to play Santa Coloma, looking for safe passage into the next round of European competition. That night they backed up a 3-0 lead from the first leg with a 2-1 victory to progress with a pretty decent aggregate win. They did so without Joe Newell, who had been red carded in the initial Easter Road encounter. But that left room for a young Irishman to make his debut and Doyle-Hayes is ready to put that experience to good use.

“I made my debut in Andorra a couple of seasons ago and we’re looking forward to going there again,” the Irishman recalled. “We want to put on a good display and then get them back here in front of our fans.

“We were in Marbella for a training camp and it was roasting, so we’re going over to somewhere hot again. We will have to control the game and impose ourselves. If we do that we should be alright. But we know it’s going to be tough in the heat. Everyone expects us to win and win comfortably, but they’re in there for a reason and had a good win the other night. The way they play is going to make it tough so we have to concentrate on ourselves and make sure we’re okay.”

Only four of the starting 11 from that Santa Coloma trip are still involved, but the 24-year-old midfielder is confident that there is necessary quality in the squad to overcome their latest Andorran test. “I think we’re on the right path,” Doyle-Hayes added. “We have some good players and still have injured ones to come back like Boyley, Joe and Lewis Miller. The way the manager wants us to play is high pressure, front foot so going into the European games we need to implement what he’s asking us to do. Everyone wants to get to the group stages and I think we have the squad to do it.”