Boss predicts bright future for Hibs kid Crawford

Colin CALDERWOOD has hailed Hibs kid David Crawford for grabbing his chance to shine, predicting a bright future for the teenage forward.

The Easter Road boss has been forced to turn to Crawford as injuries to strikers Akpo Sodje and Junior Agogo have left him with Garry O'Connor as his sole frontman.

Having been involved throughout Hibs' pre-season programme, the 19-year-old has been given further opportunities in the SPL clashes with Celtic and Inverness, playing his part in the O'Connor goal which ended the Edinburgh club's Caley hoodoo.

With the game into a third minute of time added on, pacy wide man Crawford hunted down Inverness winger Jonny Hayes, robbing him of possession to allow skipper Ian Murray to play in O'Connor for that historic strike.

And although he started Saturday's friendly against Sunderland on the bench, Crawford played more than an hour after David Wotherspoon picked up an ankle injury which has now ruled him out of Scotland's Under-21 match against Norway tomorrow.

Now Calderwood, who has also fielded 18-year-old striker Ross Caldwell as a substitute against both Blackpool and Sunderland, has admitted the performances of Crawford, who spent the second half of last season on loan with Ayr United, had caught his eye.

He said: "I felt someone might just grab their chance when we have had no-one else to play alongside Garry. David did that at Inverness, being heavily involved in our goal.

"He is getting a good education. He obviously still has a lot of work to do but he has a bright future ahead of him."