Mixu Paatelainen hailed a "fantastic" defensive display from Hibs as they boosted their hopes of a UEFA Cup place with a 2-0 win at Falkirk.The Easter Road men eased to a deserved triumph to rack up four straight SPL victories and earn their first away league win since mid-November.

A 12th-minute own goal from Bairns defender Jack Ross and a second soon after the interval from John Rankin sealed the points against a lethargic home side.

With Motherwell drawing 1-1 at Aberdeen, Hibernian moved to within four points of the third-placed Fir Park side in the battle for a UEFA spot.

Paatelainen is refusing to look too far ahead but the Finn admits his in-form side can stay on course for success if they maintain their standards, particularly at the back.

He said: "It was a consistent effort. We knew that this was a very difficult place to come and Falkirk can pass the ball really well.

"We put loads of emphasis on how we wanted to defend and I must say the boys did exactly what I asked them to do defensively and offensively. We scored two great goals.

"They had loads of ball but they didn't do too much it because of our shape and organisation - an absolutely fantastic shift from the boys.

"There are plenty points at stake still between now and the end of the season. But this was a very important match, like of all of them are, and I'm delighted to come here and take three points.

"All the recent victories have felt sweet after the game, but today the defensive shift the boys put in was fantastic.

"We don't look at the other results too much, we want to concentrate on what we do right and what we do wrong.

"Hopefully we can keep improving and we'll see at the end of the season."

Paatelainen will now prepare his side for the challenge of Celtic this weekend and is upbeat ahead of the tricky fixture.

The manager, who revealed Colin Nish and Yves Ma-Kalambay were replaced with a dead leg and a groin strain respectively, added: "We're playing Celtic this weekend, a very, very good team and it will be very difficult.

"But if we show the same determination as we did in defence today, I'm quietly confident."

Meanwhile, Falkirk boss John Hughes admitted his side deserved to lose due to their failure to create chances in a display lacking their usual free-flowing style.

The Bairns were also lacklustre in Saturday's goalless draw at Dundee United, but have held onto their top-six place for now at least.

Hughes added: "The football was good enough but we lacked a lot of penetration. The final ball into the box wasn't good enough.

"We seemed a wee bit reluctant to put crosses in and have shots at goal. I asked my midfielders between them how many shots did they have. I could count on one hand.

"I also asked my full-backs and midfielders how many crosses did they put in.

"You could count on one hand too. That is just the fundamentals of football.

"It doesn't always have to be pretty. We don't always have to walk the ball into the box. Maybe I picked the wrong team as we got caught on the counter-attack."

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