Consider it one step removed from using salt and pepper shakers – plus maybe a bottle of vinegar or olive oil, depending on your tastes – to explain the timing of a third-man run. Marink Reedijk certainly wouldn’t be the first coach to reach for a table-top explanation of a footballing concept.

But comparing his team’s scoring drought to a condiment likely to be found in every kitchen in the country? OK, let’s roll with that.

The Hibs manager, aware that no team in the Scottish Premiership has scored fewer league goals than the Easter Road side, understands that there is a pressing need to right this particular wrong. Sunday’s visit of Celtic would be a fine time to let loose in the opposition penalty box.

Reedijk, searching briefly for a metaphor to explain what he’s seeing, smiles as he explains: “I think it is a matter of, like we have a saying in Dutch, I'm not sure if you have this here. It's like the ketchup bottle, the Heinz ketchup with the old glass bottle. You shake and shake, and it doesn't come out, but if it comes out, it comes out at once.

“I think it can be a matter of this, because what I see is that we want to try and do the things we ask and train. It's also some very clear things in the final third.

“It's just a matter, like against Dundee United, we create a chance – a really good chance. If that goes in, it’s a different game. It's moments. It doesn't happen. But if it falls in that direction, then it can - out of the blue - be like this ketchup bottle.”

Hibs forward contributions in detail

Not bad. Not quite life is like a box of chocolates. But a different way of saying that, once Hibs start to unload in front of goal, they’ll take some stopping. It’s certainly a theory.

As for whether Reedijk’s man can spark a scoring spree this weekend, against the league leaders and reigning champions, well, that’s a different matter. Not only is this a contest between the team sitting bottom and visitors leading the entire pack. It’s also a clash of capabilities.

Celtic boast the best defensive record in the league. Against domestic opposition, they give up fewer scoring opportunities than any side in Scotland. They have also shown themselves to be adept at pressing high to win the ball. And they lead the Scottish Premiership in possession stats.

Hearts battered 7-1 by champions

As he prepares his team to face a side who battered Hearts 7-1 in their last league outing, Reedijk is wary of throwing away everything he’s been working on in his first two games – both defeats – as Hibs manager, saying: “What is changing the approach? It's a good question. I think you always do the things we do from a fundamental standpoint. Our principles, we always do.

“The question is what you tweak against every opponent. If it's Celtic or if it's someone else, that doesn't matter, you always tweak according to where we can hurt the opponent - or where they can challenge us.”

Asked whether it’s fair to assume that Hibs might have to suffer and endure when out of possession, the Dutch coach said: “It can be. It also depends on what kind of match it will be at the end of the day. They have good players.

“If we are forced to have this, yes, I agree. It can also be that we are like we were against Falkirk, which is considered one of the better in-possession teams and can pop the ball around. We can dominate this as well. But it depends on the game.

“We can dominate and dictate where they will have possession so that we can still do the things we do. But that depends really on how the match will go and evolve at the end of the day.”

Not naïve enough to get drawn into a debate about what Hearts did wrong in being dismantled by Celtic last weekend, Reedijk did learn a couple of things from watching highlights of the match, saying: “I've seen the summary, yes. Football is a game of momentum. They had these two corners, two goals immediately. Then I believe it was a mistake – and it’s 3-0.

“It's a totally different game than if it stays 0-0. I think that's important to realise. Then going into the bigger details, we go into those today and then tomorrow - and then later we will have a solution.

“Celtic has good individual players. Obviously the result speaks for itself at the weekend. They are a team who want to dominate the game. And it's a great challenge in order to see where we are at.”