Hibs' Lewis homes in on fresh Leith links

Published on Tuesday 24 November 2009 08:40

HIBS boss John Hughes and his players will welcome a return to Easter Road on Saturday having endured three of their last four matches "on the road".

But none will be relishing the comforts of home more than Lewis Stevenson, the Scotland Under-21 star having not played a match in Leith for the past six months.

You have to go back to the 0-0 draw with Celtic in mid-May for Stevenson's last appearance at Easter Road, the young defender having patiently awaited the chance to pull on a green jersey this season only to find himself doing so at Ibrox, Tynecastle and St Mirren Park.

With his long wait having ended as he replaced David Wotherspoon for the final 32 minutes of the 1-1 draw against Rangers, Stevenson found himself back on the bench for the home win over Aberdeen before finally starting his first matches of the current campaign, the stalemates against Hearts and St Mirren.

Now the Kirkcaldy-born youngster has his fingers crossed he can not only enjoy his own personal "Homecoming" but mark it with a victory as Hughes welcomes his old club Falkirk to Edinburgh for the first time since leaving the Bairns to succeed Mixu Paatelainen as Hibs manager.

The 1-1 draw against Saints made it eight games without defeat for the Hibees although they've now been joined in third place in the SPL table by Dundee United in the wake of their fightback victory over Celtic but, Stevenson agreed, it's time Hughes' players recovered their winning habit.

The visit of Falkirk followed by Motherwell, two teams each beaten 3-1 on their own turf earlier in the season by Hibs, would appear to represent the opportunity to do so but in a season of unpredictable results Stevenson insisted nothing can be taken for granted.

He said: "We've built up a pretty decent record recently, it's hard to go eight games without being beaten in the SPL and it's obviously a run we want to continue for as long as possible.

"Of course we'd rather have had wins rather than draws but to go to Ibrox, Tynecastle and then Paisley and come away unbeaten isn't bad at all particularly when you consider we haven't beaten St Mirren away in almost 11 years.

"After three out of four games away from home it will be good to have two matches in succession at Easter Road, two fixtures from which we can hopefully emerge with maximum points.

"We did well away against both Falkirk and Motherwell, in fact I reckon our performance at Fir Park was probably our best of the season, certainly the sort of form we are hoping to start producing on a more regular basis.

"It will be difficult, though, because it's very hard to predict any result in the SPL this season. Falkirk will come here with their confidence boosted having got their first win of the season against Hamilton.

"They'll now have Hamilton very much in their sights as they try to pull themselves away from bottom place. I know a few of their boys from the Scotland Under-21 squad and they have a decent side.

"On a personal level it would be nice to play at Easter Road for the first time in a while but I'll have to wait and see what the manager decides. I've been delighted to play in the past couple of games but, if I am honest, I cannot say I've played as well as I can.

"When you first come back into the side you tend to try to just get through games without making a mistake, to concentrate on the basics.

"A starting place, however, is far from guaranteed at this club, there will be a lot of players like me looking to get the nod this weekend."

Whoever plays, Stevenson agreed it was important Hibs continue to extend their unbeaten record saying: "Usually a run such as we have been on would see you pulling away from the teams round about you but United have also done well and are now level on points with us.

"I have to admit when I heard Celtic were a goal up I didn't expect them to lose two but again, I think, it just goes to show the gap is closing between the Old Firm and the rest of us.

"And, as we have seen this season, anyone looks capable of beating anyone else on any given day."

If Hibs' much-vaunted forward line has, perhaps, not quite lived up to expectations so far, the Edinburgh side has, under Hughes, proved much more difficult to beat with only nine goals conceded in the opening 12 league matches, a record of which Stevenson and his fellow defenders are justifiably proud.

He said: "We definitely haven't passed the ball as well as we or the gaffer would like but, first and foremost, we have made ourselves hard to beat. Do that and, I think, everything else will come from that.

"There's certainly a resilience about the side. Saturday was a good example. Saints took advantage of the horrendous conditions.

"It wasn't a day for good football and their two big boys up-front, Michael Higdon and Billy Mehmet, held the ball up well and made it difficult for us but we dug in and got a point.

"Having said that, though, we should still be good enough to go and try to force our game on the opposition.

"We haven't been conceding goals, it's been one or none in most matches with Graham Stack and the boys who have been used at the back doing well.

"Perhaps we haven't created as much as we would like but the guys up-front have been defending from the front and doing a great job for the team.

"And, as Derek showed against St Mirren, we've got blokes in the side who are capable of conjuring up a goal out of nothing.

"It wasn't even really a chance, just a great bit of space opened up by Derek who then delivered the kind of shot everyone knows he is capable of. But his goal apart, he also did a terrific job for the team in his willingness to work back to give me a hand on that flank."

Stevenson conceded the absence of Moroccan playmaker Merouane Zemmama had possibly robbed Hibs of a little of their creative genius saying: "Zouma has the ability to add a bit of sparkle but I think it would be disrespectful to the rest of the boys to say that had he played in certain games we would definitely have won.

"While Zouma can provide a spark, there are plenty of others in the side who can do so."