Hibs star Wotherspoon reveals goal determination

After scoring on his debut on the opening day of last season, his strike sparking a fightback which earned the Easter Road club victory over St Mirren, the 20-year-old had to wait until the recent Scotland Under-21 friendly against Sweden for his next goal, coincidentally in Paisley.

But now Wotherspoon, pressed into service as a makeshift right-back during his first season of SPL football, is hoping the arrival of Michael Hart to fill that position will see him released to play a more attacking role and, fingers crossed, to find his name among the scorers.

He said: "It was a great feeling when I scored that goal against St Mirren and I want to enjoy doing that some more. I don't see myself as a right-back although I'll play there if asked but now I am looking to play further forward and to get a few goals.

"I scored eight in my last season at Under-19 level so a year between goals is a bit long to wait."

Dutch signing Edwin de Graaf, midfield ace Liam Miller and defender Paul Hanlon have all got on the scoresheet this season and Wotherspoon believes the threat posed by strikers Anthony Stokes, Derek Riordan and Colin Nish, who claimed more than 50 goals between them last season, could help many more names be added to that list. He said: "It's great to have guys in the side who can score so many goals but the gaffer has been emphasising the need for others to chip in. We really need that from all areas of the pitch and I'm hoping to play my part.

"Hopefully, opposition defences will find themselves more concerned about the threat from our strikers than the rest of us which will give us the chance to surprise them with late runs and third-man running to get on the end of things."

Wotherspoon and his team-mates will get the chance to do so on Sunday when SPL champions Rangers arrive in Edinburgh to mark the opening of the new East Stand at Easter Road, the project having been completed on budget and a month ahead of schedule to lift capacity to 20,250.

It's a day Wotherspoon insisted Hughes' players have been looking forward to, determined to celebrate the occasion with a victory.

He said: "I'm sure it will be a great atmosphere, the Hibs fans will be right up for the game as will the players. They'll get right behind us and when that happens it doesn't matter who the opposition are, they'll feel intimidated.

"The Rangers players will be in the tunnel waiting to run out and all they will be able to see is a sea of green and white opposite. Then it will be like four walls of noise. The opening of the stand will only add to the occasion, the champions here at Easter Road for our first home game of the season.

"The pitch is also fantastic, it's been relaid and it's wider, really good to pass the ball around on and it should suit our style of football perfectly."

Rangers will have a few familiar faces missing with Kris Boyd and Kevin Thomson having headed for the English Championship with Middlesbrough while defender Danny Wilson joined Liverpool but, even so, Wotherspoon expects a tough game.

He said: "They are still a strong side, Steve Davis in the middle of the park is a terrific player and, having beaten Kilmarnock last week, they'll be looking for another win.

"But we also enjoyed a great victory in our first game, coming from behind to beat Motherwell. It was a tricky fixture, especially after what happened at the end of last season but I think we proved to a lot of people that we still have that edge.

"We showed we are still more than capable of going into any match and scoring a few goals."

John Sutton's early strike may have deepened the doubts in some minds following Hibs' Europa League exit at the hands of NK Maribor but, Wotherspoon argued, the Slovenian side weren't given the credit they deserved by a number of people. He said: "Make no mistake, they were a good side. We tried our hearts out but it just didn't happen for us. If we'd got an early goal in the second game we'd have been in with a real chance but you have to move on and take the positives from those games which I felt we did against Motherwell." If delighted with the win at Fir Park, Wotherspoon admitted he was disappointed to find himself out of the starting line-up, a rare occurrence since his debut, with De Graaf joining Miller and Kevin McBride in the middle of the park.

Wotherspoon, who replaced the Dutch star with 26 minutes remaining, said: "I want to be in the team as often as possible but, if I'm not, then it's a case of keeping my head down, working hard and trying to force my way in.

"When I came off the bench last Sunday I just tried to show the gaffer why he shouldn't have left me out in the first place and, hopefully, I managed to prove my point enough to earn a start on Sunday."

By doing so, Wotherspoon also hopes he'll keep himself at the forefront of Under-21 boss Billy Stark's mind with the young Scots due to play crucial European Championship qualifying matches against Belarus and Austria within the next few weeks.

The 1-1 draw against Sweden was Wotherspoon's first start at that level, the midfielder handed his opportunity thanks to a late injury. He said: "I'd been told I'd been on the bench but the late injury saw me start. I was really happy with that and even more delighted when I managed to get that late equaliser."

An added bonus for the Scots was trooping off at St Mirren Park to discover Belarus had forced a surprise 3-3 draw with Austria, handing Stark's squad a real opportunity to top qualifying Group Ten.

The Austrians have a point advantage over Scotland and Belarus but have played a game more, leaving all to play for. Wotherspoon said: "It was terrific to hear of that draw, it gives us a real chance. But we have two big games coming up. We go to Belarus first and apart from their draw with Austria they gave us a hard game over here. They are quite physical but we just managed to win with virtually the last kick of the ball. They are two terrific games to look forward to and hopefully I'll be involved in both."