Hibs goalkeeper Mark Brown ready to seize long-awaited opportunity

Two quality saves in extra time, a further two in the penalty shoot-out in the win against Motherwell at Fir Park and he was already looking forward to filling the starting slot for the following match. He tried but failed to mask his shock and disappointment when he was informed that his manager had already stated publicly that he would not be. The Hibernian goalkeeping merry-go-round was spinning and he was to be replaced by Graham Stack. His only reward for a superb display was to be a place on the bench.

That was back in September, while Colin Calderwood was still manager but, in such a context, it’s easy to understand why Brown’s thoughts are not clouded by sentiment as he looks ahead to the remainder of the season.

With 73 minutes of last weekend’s semi-final against Aberdeen gone, Stack left the field with a torn thigh muscle and, just as has been the case already this term, Brown was able to capitalise on his colleague’s misfortune. An earlier injury saw Brown granted a run of four games at the turn of the year, since then, though, he has been a frustrated spectator. But, with his rival for the goalkeeping shirt ruled out for the rest of the season, the man Hibs signed from Celtic in 2010 now has the chance to help Hibs tie up SPL survival before heading to Hampden for their first Scottish Cup final in more than a decade.

Brown said: “Injuries and suspensions are just part of football. Somebody’s misfortune is just an opportunity for someone else, that’s the way I look at it – it is just an opportunity for myself between now and the end of the season to put in some good performances and get some game time.

“I don’t know [if I feel sorry for Stack], has he felt for me sitting on the bench all season? It’s not nice to say, and you do always worry about the team but you really need to worry about yourself.

“You have to be prepared to come on the pitch any time. All season I’ve been out at quarter-past one doing my whole warm-up before any of the fans are even in the stadium. People don’t see that side of things, and at Hampden I was out 90 minutes before kick-off working hard and doing my warm-ups. By the time Stacky came out I had already finished my warm-up. You have to do things like that to prepare. On Saturday I was glad that I’d done the preparation.”

In his first season at Easter Road Brown enjoyed a prolonged run as first-choice which only made this term’s paltry three SPL and three League Cup appearances and solitary Scottish Cup start so hard to stomach. This afternoon, though, he will be between the sticks against another of his former clubs, Kilmarnock.

“It has been a difficult, frustrating season but I have been working hard in the background and now I have got the chance I’ll hopefully be ready to take it,” Brown added.

“I never thought I was going to get to play again so it was more a case of keeping myself right as I didn’t know what is going to happen in the summer. I was keeping myself sharp so whatever happened – I was ready.”

What might happen is that Brown may become a legend in Leith. While the primary focus of the management and players is ensuring SPL status next season, Hampden looms large. For a club denied a Scottish Cup victory since 1902, ending that drought, against city rivals Hearts, on 19 May, would see the players’names etched into the club’s history.

If Brown and his team-mates triumph in the season finale, his will be the name forever remembered, not Stack’s.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, there are plenty of games between now and the end of the season to worry about, we are taking it game to game, and the quicker we can get survival assured the better. It’s hard not to think about it but, first and foremost, we want to safeguard our position in the league.”

At the moment that uncertainty means manager Pat Fenlon has been unable to discuss new contracts for Brown and several others who are likely to feature at Hampden. And, with cup final fervour already building, Fenlon would happily see the league situation resolved sooner rather than later to facilitate his planning and prevent distractions.

He said: “If you want to have a job at the end of the season, make sure you do the right things and make sure the concentration is there to ensure survival and then we can start to plan.”

The Irishman’s focus cannot be questioned. Despite all the hype, he says he will not be derailed by the club’s desperation for cup success.

“It’s probably good that I’m only new in the job and, from that point of view, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.

“It’s really important that we make sure that we survive and that’s all I have had in my mind since I came into the job, to make sure we are in the SPL next season and improve the team over a period of time. Anything else is a major plus. It helps everybody else at the club so from that point of view it’s great but from my point of view the Kilmarnock game is the bigger game.

“I’m not trying to be blasé about it. I’m not saying I don’t care about anything else but, if we stay in the SPL, I will be delighted. That’s the job ahead of us.”