The Hibees travel to Fir Park to face Motherwell on Wednesday evening; 7:45pm kick-off.
The Steelmen currently sit two points ahead of us in fourth place and Joe insists the players recognise the significance of the game in terms of qualifying for European football next season.
“Short-term the next goal is winning tomorrow and we go up to fourth.
“At the start of the season European football was one of our goals, so short-term we know that if we win tomorrow then we go fourth and then we will look to climb from there.
"We have already played them a couple of times this season so we know the threat they have going forward. They are strong, physical and like to get the ball forward, and they have some good players in good areas.
“We have worked this week on how we are going to nullify their attack and how we will look to dominate the game with the ball."
Six days have passed between our Scottish Cup victory over Cove last Thursday and our trip to Motherwell, including a rare Saturday off for the Hibs team. Joe tells us how he spent his Saturday at Fir Park, watching former team-mate and friend Jordan Roberts help steer Motherwell into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.
“I was on a bit of a scouting mission” Joe joked.
“My friend (Jordan Roberts) plays there, so I was there watching him . I dragged my missus along and we had a nice little steak pie at half-time and sat in the cold for two and a half hours. It wasn’t a great game to be honest."
Joe has started both games in 2022 under Maloney, after shaking off an injury that saw him sidelined towards the end of last year. The midfielder tells us he has enjoyed playing in the Managers new system.
“I’m enjoying the system, I am trying to take on board as much as I can, both tactically and technically.
“The whole thing is process. In terms of how we play, there has been a lot of changes, we are taking in a lot of information and the lads are putting in a real effort to change the way we want to play.
“The Gaffer will hopefully be here a long time, so going forwards, the longer we work together the better we will get."
