Hibs: Hibs talent can trouble Celtic - all they need is some self-belief

Who are ya? Who are ya? That was the taunt of the Celtic fans as Ivan Sproule took to the pitch at Parkhead. It was a reasonable, if rather derisory, inquiry, the winger probably as unknown to Hibs supporters as their rivals that day with Sproule having been plucked from the obscurity of part-time football in Northern Ireland at the age of 23.

But just eight minutes after replacing Derek Riordan with the game locked in a 1-1 draw, Sproule produced the perfect riposte, the lightning turn of pace for which he has since become renowned catching Hoops defender Joos Valgaeren by surprise as he beat him to Sam Morrow's flick before knocking the ball beyond goalkeeper David Marshall.

Scott Brown added a third for good measure to earn Hibs their first win in the east end of Glasgow in almost 13 years, leaving those Celtic supporters who had goaded Sproule only ten minutes earlier streaming towards the exits.

Sproule, of course, went on to make headlines up and down the country just four months later, scoring a sensational second half hat-trick, the first by a Hibs player at Ibrox in a century, to dump an equally stunned Rangers 3-0. If that remains the defining moment in Sproule's career, he's quick to remind everyone that he inflicted almost as much damage on Celtic as he did their Old Firm rivals, his final goal in a green and white shirt coming in a 2-1 win in the Capital when, coincidentally, Brown was again on the scoresheet for Hibs.

Today, as he prepares to face Celtic in his first match since his shock return to Hibs, the former Institute player recalled: "Having gone from playing in front of small crowds in Northern Ireland to 60,000 at Parkhead and scoring my first goal was pretty surreal. I'd only made four appearances as a substitute as Tony Mowbray used me as an impact player stepping off the bench. Hibs had a strong, strong squad and it was hard to get a chance so I have fond memories of that. I heard the Celtic fans taunting me as I prepared to come on but you are always going to get that whether you are a young lad breaking through or, as I did, coming as someone pretty much unknown from a smaller club.

But you have to earn your right footballing-wise, there was a point to prove and the only way to do that was by getting out on the pitch, putting in a good performance, scoring or creating goals."

Then, as now, there remains a huge disparity in the financial clout of the Old Firm and clubs such as Hibs, a point Mowbray made after that win at the end of April 2005, his entire side having cost the princely sum of 5000 which he had paid for Sproule, in stark contrast to that shelled out by Celtic for the likes of Bobo Balde, Stilian Petrov, John Hartson and Neil Lennon at that time.Lennon has continued to spend big in Celtic's pursuit of the SPL title, bringing in players like Joe Ledley, Kris Commons and Gary Hooper - all of whom are well known to Sproule from his time with Bristol City - along with others such as last season's player-of-the-year Emilio Izaguirre, Anthony Stokes, Beram Kayal to mention but a few. Again, as in 2005, Hibs are reliant on home-grown youth, youngsters such as Paul Hanlon, David Wotherspoon, Callum Booth, David Crawford, Scott Smith, Scott Taggart and Lewis Horner seeking to emulate the successes of Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Garry O'Connor - like Sproule now back with Hibs - Derek Riordan and Steven Fletcher.

Recalling how Celtic boss Lennon was able to bring in Freddie Ljungberg halfway through last season, paying the former Arsenal and Sweden midfielder a reputed 16,000 a week only to spend most of his time on the sidelines, Sproule said: "For the Old Firm there's only one position that's any good, and that's to come first. Celtic are a massive club, one of the top sides in the world and, to be honest, I felt they were unfortunate not to win the league last year. They had it in their hands but practically handed it to Rangers. They were favourites but blew up. This season they'll be expecting to win it.

"I've played against Commons, Ledley and Hooper, they are all great players who were doing very well for their clubs in England but, I'd imagine, they found it impossible to resist the lure of Celtic. I particularly remember Hooper scoring a hat-trick for Scunthorpe against Bristol so it's no surprise he's got a lot of goals in the SPL. But that's what we face, a club that can afford to bring in these players and pay the sort of wages these guys are on. However, we have proved in the past that's not the important thing, that if you apply yourselves properly on the day you can get results."

Surrounded once more by a promising bunch of youngsters, Sproule, now 30, knows the kids will be leaning heavily on the experiences of himself, O'Connor, Ian Murray and Sean O'Hanlon, urging Hibs fans to show patience while warning the up-and-coming stars they can't expect to have their hands held all the way.

He said: "Tony Mowbray's squad was young but had some experience in terms of games played while none of those playing today have 100 or 150 games under their belts.

People are going to have to be patient, young lads will make mistakes but what they have got is talent and I don't think they'd be at the club in the first place if they didn't."As far as the youngsters are concerned, I see them in training every day and when I look at the standards down south, they have every bit as much ability. I look at myself when I first came on the scene, playing against the likes of Dado Prso and Fernando Ricksen, and the one thing I will say is you have to believe in your own ability.

"No-one can take them to where they want to go. They have to take themselves there, to have that mental strength to be the best. Hibs have always gone down the road of giving youth a chance and at the moment that seems to be flourishing.

"We all know last season wasn't a great success but the boss did bleed in a lot of youngsters. At one point the average age of the back four was only around 21. The Hibs supporters are fantastic, they deserve the very best and we will be trying our best to give them what they want. I see these young lads giving everything they have got every day in training.

"The rewards will come out there on the pitch, but patience will be the key."