Dylan Levitt knows from bitter past experience that a lead in Europe can quickly turn into a devastating disappointment, but is confident Hibernian can avoid the embarrassment he suffered with Dundee United last year.
The Wales cap was a pivotal part of the Tangerines side that stunned Dutch side AZ Alkmaar with a 1-0 first-leg victory in the European Conference League 12 months ago. With expectations rising of a famous success on the continent, United instead succumbed to a chastening 7-0 thrashing in the second-leg in the Netherlands.
Levitt has confessed the lasting effects of the humiliation stalked the Tannadice side throughout a domestic campaign that got worse a fortnight later when they were routed 9-0 at home by Celtic, and ultimately concluded with relegation from the Premiership.
On a personal level, Levitt is determined to have learned from such a harsh lesson. But the 22-year-old hopes not to have to draw on that experience as Hibs bid to protect a 3-1 first-leg triumph over Luzern in an intriguing second-leg in Switzerland tonight.
“In the AZ game, we knew what we needed to do but simply didn’t do it,” he said of United last August. “Obviously, conceding early put us on the back foot and we lost a lot of confidence as a team going in to half-time like that [5-0 behin].. It was difficult to come back from that.
“Does this feel different? I think so. Last week, they had a lot of the ball in the first-half, but we controlled the game a lot more than we did at United in the AZ game. We scored three goals against a good team as well last week, so we know what we can do going forward.
“Last year, it was 1-0 [at home] and while it was a massive win, we knew they would be right up for it. We can take a massive amount of confidence from this first-leg. We worked hard to a man and to get that third goal was massive. A two-goal lead is much better going away from home.
“From past experience, if you are one up and they get an early goal, all the momentum goes with the home side. Against AZ, we kind of crumbled a bit when they scored a couple of goals.
“We can’t afford to do that if they do score early on. It’s about being compact, narrow, hard to beat – not letting them slide through passes. There will be times we’ll need to kill the momentum.”
In a topsy-turvy first-leg, Hibs were holding on for a 2-1 advantage when Jordan Obita seized on a loose ball to sweep in what could prove to be a crucial third goal in the 90th minute.
Although Elie Youan is a late doubt for the trip to Switzerland, Martin Boyle will return to the starting XI after being rested against Motherwell at the weekend and will give the capital outfit the pacy attacking threat they hope could eventually earn them a crack at Aston Villa - and a certain John McGinn - in the next round.
“I think they saw clips of that in the first game, especially out wide,” said Levitt of Hibs’ forward thrusts. “And then Jordan on the counter for the third goal. We have got the players to hurt them on the counter.
“If we go through, that would be massive for all the lads and give them a massive confidence boost going into the league campaign and the cups. It is always good to get past that marker, where you know you can kick on from there.
“Aston Villa is a massive incentive. Every footballer wants to be involved in those games, especially against such a big team, so we can’t wait.”
