Goalkeeper regards Killie cup test as perfect chance to kick-start Hibs' season

Saturday's match in the east end of Glasgow will complete a remarkable few weeks which will have seen the Easter Road goalkeeper encounter each of his five previous clubs.

But rather than wallow in nostalgia, the 29-year-old today insisted it's the future rather than the past which will be uppermost in his mind as he returns to Rugby Park and the club he quit when John Hughes came calling at the turn of the year.

At the time Brown was on loan from Celtic, enjoying the opportunity to play regular first team football which had been denied him by the performances of Artur Boruc, but he had no hesitation in signing up to a two-and-a-half year deal at Easter Road even although he knew he'd be entering a three-way contest with Graham Stack and Graeme Smith for the gloves. Brown's chance to stake his claim was delayed thanks to a broken hand, leaving him to make his debut some 204 days later against Rangers, the club he'd joined as a kid some 13 years ago. The previous week he'd been on the bench as Hibs opened their season with a 3-2 win at Fir Park which he called home for a year and since he's faced Inverness Caledonian Thistle - for whom he made more than 200 appearances - with, now, Killie and Celtic to come in rapid succession.

As he looked forward to tonight's Co-operative Insurance Cup clash in Ayrshire, Brown said: "With Scottish football being so close-knit it was inevitable I'd come up against my former clubs sooner rather than later but it's a bit strange to have faced them all before September is out."

Hibs may be Brown's sixth club, giving the impression he's flitted from one to another, but, he insisted, nothing could be further from the truth.

He said: "I've been full-time since I was 16; a kid at Rangers where I couldn't really count on a lot of games, and then on to Motherwell only to leave after they went into administration.

I was four-and-a-half years at Inverness, three at Celtic and then had four-and-a-half months on loan at Killie last season where I played every game.

"So it was really only during my spell at Celtic when I didn't play too often."

Stack's back problem paved the way for a delayed debut and now, having played five matches for Hibs, Brown is determined to make up for lost time by taking this opportunity to establish himself as Hughes' No.?1. He said: "Speaking to other goalkeepers of my age, they seem to be getting aches and pains whereas I don't feel any differently to when I was 16 or 17. I really don't feel my age, I feel I am reaching the peak of my game and hopefully I've got a good few years in front of me."

Brown, though, is the first to admit things haven't quite gone according to plan as the Easter Road side's stuttering start to the season has provoked an angry response from some sections of the club's support.

And he confessed to a personal frustration having found himself with few saves to make but still finding his first clean sheet as Hibs goalkeeper hard to come by.

He said: "It would be nice to have had a few shut-outs but the frustration is shared by the entire team. The players have been sitting in there afterwards feeling quite devastated not to have won games we feel we could, and probably should, have won.

"We know the fans are disappointed but no-one is more disappointed than us players. We've got a magnificent stadium, a great playing surface and there have been games we feel we should have taken maximum points. We've had chances to put games to bed and haven't taken them but I feel we have been playing some good football.

"However, we can't go looking to make excuses, what we have to do is keep working hard, trust in the manager and with the talent we have in the squad I am certain the performances and results will improve." Tonight's match offers Hibs another opportunity to begin getting those disaffected supporters back on board but Brown admitted it won't be easy with Killie, having avoided relegation on the final day of last season seemingly rejuvenated under former Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen.

Brown said: "I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Rugby Park, it's a fantastic club, a great bunch of lads who were very welcoming to me even although I'd only arrived on loan.

"They've obviously got a new manager in Mixu and he appears to have added a bit of quality to the squad. I flicked between their match with Celtic at the weekend and the Manchester United-Liverpool game on television and they certainly seem to have good quality, looking to make their passes and, as always, working hard.

"I wouldn't say the draw has been kind to us, Rugby Park is a tough place to go at the best of times. When I was there last year there weren't many teams who came and turned us over. But there's a place in the quarter-finals at stake and as a club we want to be getting into the latter stages of the cup competitions, to semi-finals and finals themselves."

"Tonight is a chance for us to kick-start our season, a victory will lift everyone. A cup win always lifts the confidence and a victory would set us up nicely for another tough one at Celtic Park on Saturday."

And Brown admitted he'll settle for any sort of win with extra-time and even penalties coming into play if the match isn't decided over 90 minutes.

He said: "I'd be delighted if I didn't touch the ball in the entire match but if I have saves to make then that's my job. Winning by four or five would be nice but it's going to be tough - there again, if you want to progress in cup competitions you have to go to these places and win."