You have to play to your strengths which may not always please the opposition.

Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen does not want to get into a war of words with ex-Hibee Gary Caldwell after the Celtic defender hit out at the tactics employed on Sunday by the Easter Road side. The big Finn was diplomatic in his response to Caldwell's complaint after Celtic failed to break down a determined home defence to fall two points behind Rangers with one game left in the title race. Caldwell accused Hibs of failing to entertain the fans, claiming: "They don't want to come out and play the game. It's up to them how they play but they are not entertaining the fans. They sit deep and try to frustrate you."

Paatelainen, however, dismissed Caldwell's outburst as born out of simple frustration and claimed Gordon Strachan's side often use similar tactics in Europe. The Hibs manager said: "Gary's frustrated because they could not pick up the three points and I can understand that. But when they play in Europe, quite often they get together and play defensively as a team and hit the opposition from there. Is it better to go out there attacking, all guns blazing and be beaten 3-0 or to go out with a solid plan to give yourself a better chance of winning? Whatever approach you take you get criticised but when all is said and done you have to give the players credit for playing well, defending well and looking dangerous on the attack. Our plan was to beat Celtic, that was the target. It was the same last Wednesday against Rangers when we went very close but again ended up drawing."

While the attention of most of the country next Sunday will be at Celtic Park and Tannadice, as Celtic host Hearts and Rangers travel to play Dundee United respectively, Hibs have the chance to overtake Aberdeen and claim fifth place in the final game of the season at Pittodrie. Paatelainen said: "It would be a better finish in terms of the league table and every position is valuable. We were delighted to qualify for the top six and now we have picked up five points, taking all three from Hearts and then drawing with the Old Firm in the space of a few days is not a bad return. Now we are going to a difficult place, from the reports I am getting Aberdeen are playing well at the moment. But we have beaten them already this season so why not again? Aberdeen will also be hoping they can catch Dundee United depending on how they do against Rangers so there's still a few twists and turns to go."

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