Yves Ma-Kalambay admits he will be trying to erase the past against Rangers tonight, as he bids to show he is the future for Hibernian.

The former Chelsea youngster is relishing his return to first-team football in time to have a huge say in the destination of the SPL title, with the Easter Road side seeking to upset both halves of the Old Firm in the capital in the space of only five days.

Mixu Paatelainen's men are desperate to prove they have no favourites when it comes to the destination of the championship and have targeted a maximum three-point haul from both league leaders Rangers tonight and Celtic on Sunday.

However, Ma-Kalambay is also playing in search of a bigger goal, as he looks to prove the goalkeeping problems of recent seasons have finally been cast aside.

The 23-year-old has suffered from some error-prone displays since arriving from Stamford Bridge almost two years ago, but was impressive in last Thursday's 1-0 Edinburgh derby win over Hearts and wants to show he has a bright future.

He said: "I didn't just come here to do a job, I came here to erase some stuff from the past and to bring in a new era. People were asking that of a 21-year-old Chelsea reserve goalkeeper, to come into a club and change history. So, I've been asked to do a lot, which I've tried to do because I love challenges, and, overall, for my first two years, I'm pretty much satisfied.

"I know it's been difficult and there's been a few ups and downs, but I didn't come here with much experience and I just got thrown into the game. Usually when you arrive at a new club you are just happy to be at the club. But when I arrived here, in my first press conference I had to talk about all the things that happened in the past, and not my future.

"They were speaking to me about the present goalkeeper and that wasn't really my problem. I came here to do my own job and not to talk about him. That was the pressure that was put on me and the pressure that would have been put on any goalkeeper coming to this club. Obviously I want to erase that so the next new goalkeeper is not talking about the previous one."

Ma-Kalambay has returned to the first team for the last two matches after losing his place to former Dundee United No.1 Grzegorz Szamotulski, who has been forced out through injury, and the Belgian is thrilled to be involved in an exciting climax to the campaign.

He added: "Rangers' win on Saturday was very good for the league, because it's not over yet, and we may have a say in the championship because we play them both. I think it will go to the last day before you can say who is going to be champion, and that is good for Scottish football, compared to other seasons where teams have won with a few games to go.

"We play to win. We have three games to go, nine points to grab, and that's what we're going to try to go for. Whatever happens at the top is too bad, we're playing to get the three points and not to do anybody favours."

Hibs will have captain Rob Jones, defender Chris Hogg, midfielder Sol Bamba and striker Colin Nish, who is a doubt with a groin problem, back from suspension, but it remains to be seen whether Paatelainen will fast-track them into his starting line-up.

One player the Finn is certain to call on is striker Steven Fletcher, and the Easter Road manager has confessed the Clydesdale Bank Young Player of the Year could give his ambitions to play in the English Premier League a massive boost in this week's televised fixtures against the Old Firm.

He said: "I'm delighted for Fletch, he fully deserves his award. He has been excellent for us throughout the season and has been scoring regularly, and got a very important goal for Scotland as well. His workrate is also absolutely fantastic. People always judge strikers on how many goals they score, but whenever we lose the ball he chases it and wants to win it back to help his team-mates.

"I hope he has blinders and does well in the next couple of games. There's always speculation and he said after receiving the award that he wants to have a go at the Premier League down south and I'm not surprised by that at all. It is probably the best league in the world and all players probably want to play in that league at some stage.

"Every match is an opportunity to show, not only to the manager that they are worthy of a starting place, but to the scouts and other managers that might be observing the match as well."

Szamotulski and midfielder Denes Rosa remain sidelined through injury, but striker Jonatan Johansson could shrug off a knock to feature against his former club.