Hibernian head coach Alan Stubbs feels his players are ready to prove they can go from strength to strength in the second half of the season by beating Rangers and Hearts.

Hibs host the Ibrox side on Saturday before facing their Edinburgh rivals and runaway Scottish Championship leaders at Tynecastle on January 3.

The Leith side sit level on points with Queen of the South and only two above Falkirk in the race for a play-off spot and beating Rangers would give them a major boost exactly halfway through the campaign.

Stubbs said: "The biggest thing is the players have to believe in themselves and their ability that they can win the two games.

"At this moment in time the players believe that. They have a spring in their step. They can see improvements on and off the pitch and it has given them confidence that they are not afraid to make mistakes.

"Yes, we have made one or two but I feel everyone has come through a tough period and we are hopefully going to have a strong second part to the season where we can be in a position to have something to play for at the end of the season."

Unbeaten Hearts moved 12 points clear of Rangers with a 2-0 win at Cowdenbeath on Tuesday - their 15th victory in 17 games.

But head coach Robbie Neilson continues to focus on improvement and he is eager to enjoy a more successful trip to bottom club Livingston than the 4-1 League Cup defeat that a young Hearts side suffered in August.

"We have a huge game with Livingston now, and we're extremely keen to right the wrongs of the cup game we played there," Neilson said.