Hibs: Ian Murray wants to lead Easter Road rising

Murray only returned from injury a fortnight ago but was almost immediately handed the responsibility of leading the team out at Ibrox in the absence of Derek Riordan, pictured right.

The striker had been named captain in the games against Dundee United and Hearts but was suspended for the trip to Govan having been red-carded in the derby. And Murray grabbed the opportunity with both hands, turning in an outstanding performance which he then followed up with a man-of-the-match display against Motherwell last weekend.

He is likely to be given the responsibility again for this weekend's trip to Inverness and conceded that the added weight on his shoulders is something he relishes. Murray said: "The gaffer has not said too much to me about it and I don't know if he has spoken to anyone else about it. He just told me on Saturday that I would be the captain again and I was quite happy to go out and do that.

"I don't he said anything to Derek, and I don't think that he had to. We're not that kind of people, we're not all bitching about it and fighting over who will take the armband.

"He is the manager and he will decide who is going to get it, whether it's for one game or for the season.

"It hasn't affected Derek. I spoke to him before the game and he said it wouldn't make him play any worse or any better whether he was captain or not. Maybe other people will look into it more than us, the fact that he was captain and got sent off. But that could have happened to any one of us at any point in the season whether we were wearing the armband or not. If anything, I think it just shows that we have got a lot of boys in the side who are all capable of leading the team out, I've had it, Derek's had it, big Sol and Liam Miller are both experienced players, Kevin McBride and Chris Hogg have already shown that they can do a good job.

"I think that everyone in the side would like to have a chance to captain the side and obviously I would love to do it on a permanent basis.

"Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but to even be thought of in that way so early into the new manager's time here is still very pleasing."

While stressing that he and his team-mates cannot afford to get carried away by the recent resurgence his side have enjoyed - they recorded two home wins on the bounce for the first time this season with those victories over Rangers and Motherwell - Murray is delighted that the Easter Road outfit could be on the verge of turning their fortunes around.

Just a couple of weeks ago they were in danger of slipping to the foot of the SPL table but a good result this weekend against Inverness would edge them closer to the top half of the table.

Murray continued: "We all believed that we would turn the corner at tome point, but at the same time, we are not going to get too excited about a couple of good results.

"We have only won two games in a row and while that is great for the team and the fans, we can't get carried away, just in the same vein as we didn't allow ourselves to get too disappointed when we had a run of bad results.

"We can't suddenly be jumping around saying that everything has turned around. For a start it would go against everything that we said at the beginning of the season and, for a second, there is still an awful lot of football to be played.

"We need to make sure that our mentality is right for the next few games. We go up to Inverness this weekend and then we have got a couple of home games coming up and we have got to be looking to win them to be honest.

"I think that we're maybe getting one or two little bits of luck that weren't coming our way earlier in the season.

"We missed a penalty against Inverness the last time and we had a few other decisions go against us as well and these things all add up.

"But then last Saturday against Motherwell they had a goal disallowed for offside when it probably wasn't, so I suppose that these things tend to even themselves out."

He may only have played a handful of games this season, but in the matches he has been involved in, Murray has received rave reviews.

He has added a touch of steel to the Hibs side, allied with a determination and a real energy, despite still being some way short of full match fitness.

The player himself feels that it will take another few weeks to get his desired level of sharpness back and added: "I did the whole of pre-season but then during my suspension at the start of the season I aggravated a wee niggle that I'd had for a while in my hip and groin area. I had been carrying it for a few months and once it built up there was nothing much that I could do about it. I couldn't have played, not least because I wouldn't have been doing myself justice.

"Once I got the injections I couldn't do anything at all. When they had a look at it they found the problem and managed to calm it down but I then had three weeks of just working with the physio and not doing too much at all. I managed to play a couple of reserve games before getting a few minutes at the end of the Hearts game.

"It has been good to get games under my belt against Rangers and then Motherwell. I think that adrenaline maybe takes you through the first few games that you play after a long period out and then you get back to the levels of fitness that you want after a couple of months of regular games."

Hibs haven't had much to celebrate in the SPL games they have played against Inverness at the Caledonian Stadium - in fact, they haven't won a single top flight game there.

Murray, however, reckons that statistic has to change some time soon and feels that Hibs' luck could be about to turn in the Highlands. "We have not done well up there but it's difficult to put a finger on whay that is because we have tried everything," he said.

"We have stayed up there overnight, we have travelled on the morning of the game, we've played them on a Saturday afternoon, we've even played them at night.

"It just seems to be one of those things. We seem to have a wee edge over Motherwell by the same token, but these things can't go on forever and Saturday is a completely different game again.

"We will be going into the match on a high. They are a good side with a good manager, but we believe that we can go up there and win.

"We know that we have got goals in our side so if we can keep it tight at the back then I think we have a good shout of winning the game."

Murray says that the change in confidence levels and belief running through the side is mainly down to Calderwood's quiet air of authority, adding: "I have been impressed with what he has done so far. Obviously every manager has their own ways of doing things and their own ideas.

"In my experience, I have noticed that people who have played or managed at a high level down south are a lot calmer.

"The manager seems to be a real thinker and without preaching to us every day, you know exactly what he wants just by the look that he gives you.

"He has got that authority over you before you even start without having to drum it into you.

"When I was at Norwich it was the same.

WIt doesn't sound relaxed but in a way it is because people don't have to go around shouting at you to let you know what they think.

"You can tell that he means business even though he doesn't go about shouting at everyone. If you got on the wrong side of him though, you would probably know all about it."