Backing from Hibs support gives Galbraith a big lift

Galbraith, who celebrated his 20th birthday last week, marked the occasion by making his first SPL appearance of the new season on Sunday, coming on for the final 34 minutes of the 3-0 defeat by Rangers.

While the scoreline was a disappointing one, Galbraith, who spent much of last season on the bench, admitted it had been a huge bonus simply to have been given a decent chunk of game time.

And he revealed that the support of the Hibs fans has helped him to maintain a positive attitude towards earning a regular place in John Hughes' starting line-up this season.

The winger, who made just 17 appearances last season, said: "The fans have always been positive with me, even when I am at the side of the pitch just warming up they're always shouting positive things to me and giving me encouragement. That kind of thing really keeps me going.

"I've never had a problem with my relationship with the fans here and their encouragement gives me so much confidence. It's great to know that when I am playing, if I manage to go past someone they will cheer. Even if a cross that I've tried to make hasn't been great, they seem to appreciate what I am trying to do for the team.

"It gives you a massive boost and I just want to try to do well for this side and hopefully repay the fans - and the manager - by putting in good performances."

Galbraith felt Hibs had been unfortunate to lose so heavily to Walter Smith's side last weekend and reckoned things could have been so different had Edwin De Graaf managed to put a second-half chance away.

The Dutchman could have given Hibs the lead, only to hesitate and allow Rangers defender Majid Bougherra to slide in with a brilliant challenge to take the ball off his toes at the last second. Kenny Miller then took over, a hat-trick against his former side settling the contest in no uncertain terms.

"I thought that we were unfortunate and there were definitely not three goals in it," Galbraith continued. "Up until they scored, I think the game could have gone either way; we might even have edged the first half.

"After the two sendings-off, though, we were always going to leave ourselves a bit short when we pushed forward and make ourselves that bit vulnerable and they have managed to capitalise on that.

"The chance that Edwin missed was probably the turning point in the whole game because they went up the park and scored just a few minutes after that and it was a real kick in the teeth for us.

"It's small things like that which change games, especially against Rangers, and when you get chances then you have got to take them. I spoke to Edwin after the game and I read what he had said to the press and he really didn't think there was anyone within ten yards of him when he went to hit it, which is unfortunate, but it's just one of those things. That's football and it was just a shame that Rangers went on to get a few goals."

Kevin McBride is suspended for this weekend's trip to face St Mirren following his sending-off against Rangers, while Michael Hart is ruled out with a hamstring problem while Derek Riordan is hoping to have recovered from a knee knock, both suffered in that same game.

Galbraith is hoping he will again be involved in some capacity and added: "Getting 35 minutes against Rangers was great for me.

"It's okay coming off the bench with ten or fifteen minutes left when the side is maybe looking for a goal, you do your best in that situation. Generally, though, it takes about ten minutes to get into a game and it is definitely beneficial to play longer. It just all depends on the type of game and how it is going. I think that was probably the longest I have been given as a substitute and I think it really gave me a chance to get my second wind and get into the game properly. It was a good game to watch, it was played at a very fast pace, so having a bit longer helped me to adjust. I'm sick of hearing myself saying it, but all I can do is keep working as hard as I can and try to please the manager.

"As well as we played last weekend for the majority of the game, we ended up taking nothing from it, so it is vital that we get the right result this Sunday."