THESE are giddying, exciting new times for Hibernian. Supporters who in the past would trudge into Easter Road wondering just what fresh hell awaited them that day are now hurrying into stadia all across the land with a skip in their step. Watching Hibs is no longer considered dangerous for your health.

For a period, to Hibs something became a verb. Introduced by Hearts fans – who else – it was not a particularly flattering addition to the lexicon. It meant to make an almighty rickets of a situation, and often from an initially promising position. So, for example: “David Cameron has not handled the Sharm el-Sheikh withdrawal particular well. He has Hibsed the whole thing.”

They are not using the term so often in Gorgie now. There is always a danger of making bold assumptions less than halfway through a season but Hibs look a side – a club – reinvented and reinvigorated. A few early season hiccups have been replaced with a remarkably consistent run of results. They have won 11 of their previous 12 games in all competitions, the only blip a draw at home to St Mirren who they meet again in Paisley this weekend. Based on the form of the respective sides, you would not bet against Hibs making amends for those earlier dropped points by chalking up another notch in the win column.

Hibs, then, are doing a Hearts, as unpleasant as that may be for them to hear. Their city rivals created the template for anyone looking to escape from the SPFL Championship in the most efficient way possible. Hearts swept to promotion last year on the back of deadly consistent run of results, not losing in the league until January. By the time they lost again in early April they were already champions on the back of nine successive wins. It was the sort of metronomic efficiency that their opponents simply couldn’t live with.

The parallels are striking for James Keatings. Part of the Hearts squad that swatted away all in front of them last year, the forward made the cross-Edinburgh switch in the summer to join a Hibs side currently in the midst of doing likewise. Victories in the past week over both Rangers and Dundee United, the latter in the League Cup, suggest they remain on the right path.

“It’s definitely similar,” he said. “The start to the season was different as Hearts got off to a flyer last year and carried it all the way through. But we are on a great run here and our confidence is high.

“We have a strong mentality in the changing room and we are all pushing each other so, yeah, there are similarities. The manager wants us to go out there and be disciplined in our own half and be safe and play the game the right way.

“But when we get into the final third he tells us to do what we want and play the way we can. He has a way that he wants to play with the passing and moving and he’s bred that onto the team.

“You could see that against United with the movement and the passing, and it’s getting us goals as well. We’re going to have to be consistent. We showed on Sunday how good a team we are. Rangers were on a great run – but we ended it. Now we are going to push forward but keep our feet on the ground and see where it takes us.”

Such is the abundance of attacking options available to manager Alan Stubbs that Keatings has had to adapt to a new role just to fit into the team. Playing deeper than his traditional centre forward preference, he hopes to emulate the success of others who have thrived in such a role.

“I saw Scotty Allan in that position last season and he was a joy to watch at times,” he added. “And I would watch Kris Commons when I was at Celtic as a young boy. What struck me was just the space they would create for themselves and the chances they created for other people. So you are always watching and learning and trying to take things like that into your own game. The manager has watched me drop into that position in training and tried me out there for the last three games. And hopefully I can deliver for him from there.”

St Mirren are without a home league win to their name this season but Keatings warned against complacency. “The last time we played them it was a draw so they are a good outfit. It’s juts up to us to go there and be strong.

“There may be changes to the team the manager picks but hopefully we can go there and get the win and finish a very good week.”