Hibs winger Alan O'Brien has today revealed that he has finally settled in
The 22-year-old former Newcastle United winger arrived at Easter Road in the summer in a reported £500,000 deal, but has so far struggled to gain a foothold in the Hibees first eleven.
He picked up an ankle injury in pre-season and has struggled to shake it off, but has now insisted that he has now gotten over the injury and has settled in
O'Brien is confident he can discover the form which attracted Hibs in the first place and is out to prove to the fans his worth.
The
He said:
"I've started settling in and finding my feet. I hope to get the chance to show what I can do over the next few weeks. I'm now settled off the park and I am starting to enjoy it.
"I am hoping that I can build it up over the next few weeks and try to get a bit of a run going. If it doesn't happen for me now, I'll just have to bide my time and wait for my next chance to come along.
"For the fans to see the best of you I think that you have to play a few games in a row, especially now that I am fully fit. I had a little run in the team at the start of the season but to be honest I didn't feel 100 per cent fit at that point.
"Now I do though and hopefully I can show everyone what I am capable of and what I can bring to the team. Having Roger Propos here has really helped me because when you're injured you don't feel fit within yourself. When he was here I had a three-week period where I worked really hard and did a lot of running and I'm really feeling the benefits of it now.
"I was delighted to be told that I was playing on Saturday, it's what I've been waiting for over the last couple of months. It was great to get back out there and I'm feeling good again.
"To a certain extent it has been frustrating for me, but when you look at the team, everyone has been playing really well so you can't just expect to walk straight into the side.
"All I can do is just wait for my chance to come along. You're always going to get one at some stage, and then make sure that I take it when it comes along.
"There is a lot of competition for places and a lot of quality players. Everyone's doing well right now and it's a good thing for the club because everyone is being pushed on a little bit.
"When you are the one sitting on the bench you're not thinking that way, but it's a great problem for the gaffer to have.
"I had an ankle injury for a while that was niggling me. It didn't go away for a long time but over the last couple of weeks I've been feeling really good.
"Being out of the side for a while can really affect your confidence and maybe that happened with me. I was also still settling in at the club but I'm feeling back to myself again and just looking forward to playing some football.
"I played on Saturday and I thought that I did pretty well in the first half, I still haven't set up a goal yet or scored one and until I do that I won't be entirely happy.
"I think it's just a case of me getting my confidence back and that has been happening over the last few weeks. Just playing helps but if I can get an assist or a goal under my belt then that just boosts it up again.
"I didn't score many goals at Newcastle, I set up more than I scored down there, that was the biggest part of my game. I get as much pleasure out of setting up a goal as I do from scoring one and hopefully it won't be too long until I'm doing that again."
Let's hope Alan can find some form, he has blistering pace and can deliver a wicked cross, he has the potential to become a very big player for Hibs, hopefully the small minority of fans that get on his back at games will give the boy time.
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