Josh Mulligan insists Hibs can make history in Warsaw as he admits glaring miss played on his mind

Mulligan's late strike has thrown Hibs a huge Conference League lifeline ahead of next week's play-off second leg in Warsaw

Josh Mulligan admits he owed his Hibs team mates the late strike that kept their Europa Conference League jackpot hopes alive - after missing a first minute sitter.

The midfielder threw the Hibees a lifeline with his 87th minute goal against Legia Warsaw on Thursday which means David Gray’s side head into the do-or-die second leg in Poland 2-1 down.

With a spot in the £5m league phase up for grabs Mulligan knows it’s very much game on - especially with the memory of their 2-0 win away to hostile Partizan Belgrade in the last round still fresh.

Now he’s urged his team mates to find their killer instinct in front of goal and ensure European football till at least Christmas.

The Easter Road side could have been even comfier heading into the second leg had Mulligan not taken too many touches and allowed Legia keeper Kacper Tobiasz to smother at his feet when clean through after 60 seconds.

But he did find the net from close range with just three minutes remaining after Bartosz Kapustka had a third for Legia ruled out by VAR.

And the summer signing from Dundee said: “It's massive. They score a third goal and that could have been it dead, but then we get a goal at the end and now it's 2-1 and it's game on.

“I missed one in the first couple of minutes. I was thinking about it the whole game.

“I don't know what I was doing. I’ve seen the boy coming across and thought ‘he's got to block this so I need to go past him’. But I'm in the box - just shoot!

“So it was nice to get that one at the end and help the boys.

“It's only the first leg of football. We need to go over there and we've done well away from home, so we just need to put in a performance and I'm sure the boys can do it.”

Legia’s fans are renowned for making life uncomfortable for visiting team’s in the Polish Army Stadium. But Mulligan has no concerns Hibs wilting under the pressure.

He was part of the side that thrived in the Partizan cauldron earlier this month - and insists they can do it again to earn a spot in history as the first Hibs side to make it past the qualifiers in the modern era of Euro competition.

He said: “The Partizan away leg was mental. I'm not too sure there'll be anything different to that over there.

“We've faced that and we know we can deal with it. That's why I came to this club, for these big nights.

“The boys have given everything in every game. Even in the hostile atmospheres, we've stood up to it. Obviously, we've got a good shape and a good way of playing. The boys stick to that and have bought into that.

“I think all the sides we’ve faced have been good. They're top teams and I think we've stood up to it well. If we'd killed Thursday’s game off at the start, they might not have looked as good.

“But it's just about sticking to the game plan and going over there and getting a result.

“If we start like we did on Thursday, but get that goal, the whole tie can flip upside down.

“We've got the quality. I've seen the boys come off the bench. We'll need them again in the second game. They came on and sparked a bit of life into us. We'll need everyone.”

Mulligan wasn’t the only man in green and white guilty of passing up a huge chance before finally finding the net on Thursday night.

Kieron Bowie, Rocky Bushiri and sub Thibault Klidje also failed to trouble Tobiasz when presented with golden opportunities while Martin Boyle also went close twice.

But Mulligan reckons the fact Gray’s side carved out so many chances proves the game plan was correct. And should give fans belief heading to Poland.

He said: “The first half, the opening spell of the game, I thought we were all over them. When you don't get that goal, it gives the other team a bit of momentum. They have two bits of quality. All the teams we've faced have got that quality.

“We just need to dig deep. Getting that goal at the end gives us a boost.

“We can go over there and give it everything.”