The Easter Road club head to Glasgow tomorrow, hoping to stay in touch with their rivals for third place.

Mixu Paatelainen will be in the away dugout at Parkhead for the first time as Hibs manager, with the Leith club having come away with a point earlier in the campaign during Tommy Craig's brief tenure as caretaker manager.

They take on a Celtic side brimming with confidence following the revival which has hauled them back into the SPL title race.

Celtic have beaten Rangers twice in the last month, however defender Jones insists the Hibernian players will treat the game just like any other top-flight encounter.

The 28-year-old said: "We have just got to concentrate on the game, not where it is and who it is against.

"We have gone there this season and drawn 1-1 and did well under the circumstances, it was the first game after John Collins resigned.

"So the boys are looking forward to going there.

"First and foremost it is important for us to start well on Sunday.

"We also need something out of the game.

"So hopefully it will be a very good spectacle both to watch and to play in with both teams wanting as much out of the game as possible."

With Motherwell leading the charge for a place in next season's UEFA Cup, Jones believes it is imperative Paatelainen's troops avoid leaving Glasgow empty-handed.

He added: "It's not in our hands but I think it is vitally important we come away with something from this game.

"I think all the neutrals and television people will want it to go down to the last game of the season and Motherwell.

"But I think we need to just concentrate on what we are doing and wait and see what happens around the other grounds."

Jones has been impressed by the character Hibernian have shown to give themselves a fighting chance of claiming the UEFA Cup berth following a rollercoaster campaign.

He added: "If you look at the season as a whole we started off extremely well. We were unbeaten for nine games.

"Then the wheels seemed to fall off and we couldn't buy a win during the middle part of the season.

"So it's credit to the players that we have got ourselves back in contention for Europe."