Eoin Doyle aims to sign off with Scottish Cup win

HIBERNIAN striker Eoin Doyle is determined to finish his stint with the Edinburgh club on a high and head south with a Scottish Cup winner’s medal tucked away in his luggage.
Eoin Doyle tries to find a way past Ryan Jack in Monday night's 0-0 draw against Aberdeen at Easter Road. Picture: Ian RutherfordEoin Doyle tries to find a way past Ryan Jack in Monday night's 0-0 draw against Aberdeen at Easter Road. Picture: Ian Rutherford
Eoin Doyle tries to find a way past Ryan Jack in Monday night's 0-0 draw against Aberdeen at Easter Road. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The Irishman has signed a pre-contract with English League Two outfit Chesterfield, but with a showpiece clash with Celtic at Hampden looming on 26 May, there is no sense of going through the motions as the clock ticks down to his departure.

Doyle was a second-half substitute in last May’s disastrous 5-1 capitulation to city rivals Hearts but he feels there is a change in atmosphere ahead of this year’s return to the national stadium. With Hibs firmly the underdogs and no derby edge to this occasion, the striker has promised the club’s fans an improvement on last season’s pitiful effort.

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“There was more pressure going into last year’s final because we didn’t avoid relegation until the second last match of the SPL season,” he said. “We were in a tough place at the time and it ended even more roughly with the result in the final. I suppose we’ll never forget that one.

“But we will approach it differently this year and I can promise you it won’t be that many this year.”

Doyle was part of the Hibs attack that drew a blank against Aberdeen in Monday’s goalless draw at Easter Road and, while the cup final is clearly the main focus of what remains of the season, he insisted that the players are still motivated to take as many points as possible from the last four league games.

He said: “I think we should have taken a win from [the Aberdeen game]. We had the better chances in the game and we played well defensively but we didn’t take our chances when they came around.

“I suppose we are all trying to keep our place for the final but our aim for the time being is finishing seventh in the league. If you can get into the team and get a couple of good performances behind you the manager will find it hard to drop you when it comes to the final.

The fact that Doyle will leave at the end of the season provides an extra motivating factor for the player to make the most of the time he has left at the club he joined from Sligo Rovers in December 2011.

“It’s important to me to sign off on a high when I leave,” he agreed. “Hibs is a massive club and they’ve been great to me. I’ve enjoyed every minute of being up here and I’d love nothing more than to leave with a medal. That would be great.

“I don’t feel under any more pressure since the news came out that I’m leaving. I don’t feel I need to be seen to be giving my all because I don’t think I’ve ever left myself short in effort.

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“I always give my all, if anything I maybe give too much and end up doing stupid things. My plan now is to give 100 percent for these last few league games and, hopefully, play myself into the cup final team and get the win.

“If we win I could stay here for another 30 years and still not have anything to match that. Chesterfield will be a new chapter in my life, but I’m not even thinking about next year, to be honest. We’ve got a lot to play for this season and my mind is entirely on that.”