Hibs’ Leigh Griffiths hoping final will be proudest day

The Easter Road hitman missed the birth of his children as he was at that time playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers but is determined not to miss out on this occasion.

The 21-year-old is likely to be one of the first names down on the teamsheet at Hampden this weekend when Hibs take on Hearts in the showpiece finale to the Scottish season.

The two sides haven’t met in the final since 1896 and the match has been labelled the biggest Edinburgh derby of all time.

Having watched Manchester City pull off a result against Queens Park Rangers last weekend to be crowned English Premier League champions, Griffiths is certain that his side can also dig deep for victory.

Griffiths admitted that he would love to play a key role in carving out a Hibs victory on Saturday, either scoring or setting up the winning goal, and said: “I missed the birth of my two kids, I was down at Wolves, so this win would be the proudest moment of my life.

“If I can score the winner, or play any part in the goal that wins the game, it would be incredible. We’ll try to do what we did against Aberdeen and sneak an early goal, but we know anything can happen in football – just look at the way Manchester City won the title on Sunday.

“We will do our best and hopefully it is enough on the day.”

The Hibs squad flew back into Scotland yesterday, having spent the early part of the week holed up in a training camp in Dublin.

Hibs manager Pat Fenlon was keen to take his squad away from the growing excitement and hype surrounding the match and Griffiths, for one, was delighted to escape from the city for a few days.

Edinburgh has reached fever pitch over the last five weeks with both supporters and players clamouring to get their hands on tickets for their friends and families.

Fenlon has banned his players from using social networking sites ahead of the big match as he doesn’t want them being distracted from the task in hand.

Griffiths said: “It was good to get away. We knew what Edinburgh was going to be like with the final coming up. To get some sessions with no press or anyone on our backs was good. I don’t play golf so the rest of the time was spent putting my feet up and resting for Saturday.”