Hibs: Pat Fenlon backs stand-in keeper Mark Brown to shine in final games

The 31-year-old stopper was thrust into the limelight as Graham Stack limped out of the semi-final win over Aberdeen with a season-ending thigh injury, meaning Brown will play the crucial final five SPL matches and the all-Edinburgh Cup final at Hampden.

Brown has been Stack’s understudy this season, restricted to playing in Hibs’ League Cup ties – although he was the hero of a penalty shoot-out victory over Motherwell – and had to wait until the start of the Scottish Cup campaign for his first match under Fenlon.

A calf strain sustained by Stack opened the door for Brown to face Cowdenbeath at Central Park, where Hibs conceded the opening goal in just 15 seconds before going on to win 3-2.

It was the first of four matches in a row for Brown but that came to an end following a 4-0 defeat by Rangers at the end of January, Brown returning to his seat on the bench where he remained until the final 17 minutes of the semi-final.

But despite his lack of action, Fenlon has underlined his faith in the former Rangers, Motherwell, Inverness, Celtic and Kilmarnock star. The Irishman said: “It’s a massive blow for Graham to be missing the most important part of the season but there isn’t anything we can do about it.

“The good thing from is that Mark is an experienced player. I said when I came in we had two very good goalkeepers and we are in the fortunate position of having someone like him available to us.”