Hibs' Chris Cadden opens up on catching Covid-19 and dealing with both sides of coin

After an MLS season where game-time had already been more limited than he had hoped, Chris Cadden was denied the opportunity to end the campaign on a high.

Chris Cadden happy to be back in Scottish football but he knows Rangers game will be tough test after cup disappointment. Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group

A year stuck on a different continent from family and friends as the coronavirus pandemic waged war on the world, the paucity of first-team football had further tested his resilience. But, worse was to come when the 24-year-old contracted the illness early in December.

He had made what turned out to be the last of his nine appearances for Ohio-based Columbus Crew in the final minutes of the Eastern Conference semi-final against Nashville.

Still to come were the Conference final and then the MLS Cup, to decide the season’s champions. But fate intervened to deny him any part of those. Although, given the worldwide death toll and damage caused, he considers himself lucky.

“I played a game where I came on for a bit and then I tested positive afterwards, there was a wee outbreak within the team and I got it in the latter stages of that, which was a bit of a shock.

“I was OK, I lost my sense of taste and smell which was wild but apart from that nothing major, thankfully. A couple of boys in the team really struggled with it.

“I missed the Eastern Conference final and the MLS final which wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t the best time to get Covid. But, it is what it is, it’s something I couldn’t control or do anything about and it was still great for us to go on and win it.

But, that is not the only final he has missed out on in a matter of weeks, after Hibs succumbed to a shabby second half showing and, consequently, a painful Betfred Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of St Johnstone on Saturday.

A January signing, that was Cadden’s first start and, given the hullabaloo kicked up by that result, it is one he is unlikely to forget.

But having spent plenty of time in Scottish football, coming through the Motherwell ranks to rack up well over a century of first team appearances, he knew what to expect.

“This is the biggest club I have played for in my career and with that comes challenges. When you’re winning, everything is great, you’re the best player in the world and when you lose games like Saturday it’s the reverse. But that’s what you have to handle if you want to play for a club like Hibs, you have to deal with both sides of the coin.

“I knew how big a club Hibs was, that was one of the reasons I came here, the size, the history, the fanbase all attracted me to it.”

The best way to deal with that disappointment would be a solid and positive performance against Rangers this evening.

“100 per cent. It’s going to be a test because Rangers aren’t top for no reason. We’ll need to be at our best and we know that.

“But it’s a great opportunity for us to go and get a result and if we can do that it will bring back the feelgood factor. Hopefully we can take it.”

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