Are Hibs quietly building another good season?

Scottish Premiership: Motherwell v Hibernian

Venue: Fir Park, Motherwell Date: Tuesday, 25 November Kick-off: 19:45 GMT

Coverage: Listen to commentary on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, live text updates on the BBC Sport website & app

Hearts this, Hearts that - but what about Hibernian?

With their city rivals dominating the storylines of the Scottish Premiership season, Hibs are quietly racking up the points after an unconvincing start to the campaign.

Sound familiar? Well, a poor start last term had many fearing for head coach David Gray, but he responded emphatically to lead the team to third.

Now, after beginning their league season with just one victory in seven games, a run of four wins in six has them on course to, at least, repeat that feat.

Gray's side face a challenging trip to Motherwell on Tuesday, but another three points in Lanarkshire would move them to within six of leaders Hearts.

So what has changed?

Hibs are now turning draws into wins.

An impressive but ultimately unsuccessful European qualifying campaign took its toll on Gray's men earlier this season.

Despite being unbeaten after six league games, they had only won one of them. A stoppage-time derby defeat at Tynecastle then served as a wake-up call.

Since then, Hibs have won four and drawn one of their following six matches. The only defeat in that run was at home to Rangers, during which they missed a late penalty and ultimately lost 1-0.

Despite failing to score that night, finding the net was not a serious issue for Gray's side, who have maintained impressive scoring form, but they were in need of tightening up defensively.

Hibs kept just one clean sheet in their opening seven league games, shipping 10 goals in the process. In their past six they have kept three clean sheets and conceded four times.

A match-fit Grant Hanley has helped with that, while the underlying numbers reflect well on goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger, who has replaced Jordan Smith as Gray's preferred choice.

Smith's Premiership save percentage this term stands at just 53%, with summer signing Sallinger's rising to a league high of 82%.

Gray reflects on remarkable turnaround

A win on Tuesday would strengthen Hibs' hold on third, although they will have played more games than the three other teams in the top four

The data also reads well for Hibs as a team overall, especially in an attacking sense, where they rank high in several key metrics.

Only Celtic have created more big chances and accumulated a higher expected goals (xG) rating, while they rank third for touches in the opposition box.

If the league table was based on teams' xG for and against, the Leith side would still be third, which suggests they are not in a false position.

It was a similar story for Hibs last term, even during their grim start. Positive underlying numbers often reflect well on teams over the course of a season.

It is almost 12 months to the day since Gray's managerial tenure U-turned in the right direction, a late Rocky Bushiri leveller in a wild 3-3 draw with Aberdeen sparking a stunning run of form to finish third.

The Hibs great will hope a positive result at Fir Park on Tuesday has the same impact from a far better starting point after a whirlwind 18 months in his first permanent head coach role.

Reflecting on that spell, Gray said: "When I think about that first period, I certainly learned a lot from what my first year looked like, being maybe 30 seconds away from potentially losing [my] job.

"So, to then be sitting where we finished, the success from last season, the feel-good factor around the club, moving in the right direction and then putting ourselves in a good position now. That's all we've done, though."