Lee Currie hoping to be an ingredient in Hibs first team

LEE CURRIE has had to be patient, one of the seven Hibs kids awarded first-team contracts a year ago having clinched a historic league and cup double for the Easter Road outfit, but now the young midfielder is in a hurry to catch the eye of boss John Hughes.

The 20-year-old's contract is counting down to a January deadline, a fact he insists he has to push firmly to the back of his mind as he bids to play catch-up with David Wotherspoon, a team-mate in that all-conquering Under-19 side, who went on to take the SPL by storm last season.

But as Wotherspoon did so, Currie found himself playing a waiting game, desperate for an opportunity which never came to fulfil his dream as a lifelong Hibs fan of pulling on a green-and-white jersey at Easter Road - only a five-minute walk from his home in Lochend.

Now, though, that goal is within tantalising reach as Hughes leads his side into Europa League action against Slovenian side Maribor on Thursday thanks to Hibs' four-match tour of Holland which comes to an end today against Vitesse Arnhem.

Having made appearances as a substitute against Heracles and then NEC Nijmegen, Currie got his first start as Hibs faced Ado Den Haag, his hope obviously being to get a bit more action before he and his team-mates make the dashfor home tonight and the chance to rest and recuperate before jetting off again on Wednesday.

Exciting times for all concerned, not least for Currie who said: "The Under-19s seems so long ago. My hope last season was to get myself onto the bench or even to be playing but is just didn't happen for me.

"I know a lot of fans expected those of us who signed first-team contracts to step up immediately but it doesn't work like that, moving from Under-19 football to the SPL is a huge step, you just have to work hard and bide your time."

Wotherspoon, of course, proved to be the exception to that rule, making his debut on the opening game of the season against St Mirren, an occasion he marked with a goal, before going on to play in virtually every match as he set the benchmark for every other youngster at the club.

Currie said: "David did exceptionally well but I think it was a bit much to expect us all to do the same. I think it's only human nature to feel that it could have been me, but on the other hand, we were all made up for him because we'd been team-mates together for a long time. I was also a bit unlucky last season, I went out on loan at Stenhousemuir and came back only to suffer a knee injury which required an operation just at a time when the squad was being hit by a few injuries and the gaffer's options were dwindling fast.

"Who knows, if I had been fit I might have got the chance then but, hopefully, it will come this season."

To that end, Currie believes he could well benefit more than most from facing four Eredivisie sides in such a short space of time saying: "The gaffer has very definite ideas of how he wants football to be played and it's going to fall on the young lads to take it all on board.

"He wants to change the way we play to a Dutch style, he wants us to play football, to pass and move, not just to hit the ball long and hope. All the games over here have been quite tough, the Dutch sides are superb at taking the ball and passing it while their movement is terrific. Hopefully, we can take it all on board and bring that style of play into the SPL."

Currie's more immediate concern, however, is to make sure he's on the plane which leaves for Slovenia this week, well aware of just how much a big European night at Easter Road stirs the Hibs support, his own favourite recollection - one shared by many fellow fans - being the epic UEFA Cup encounter with AEK Athens in which Alex McLeish's side came within touching distance of pulling off an astonishing fightback after losing the first leg in the Greek capital 2-0.

He said: "I could only have been 11 or 12 at the time but my Dad Tam took me and my brother Daryl. I can remember the electric atmosphere, Paco Luna scoring those two goals and then missing that header right at the death which would have taken us through.

"We did win on the night but they also got two goals in extra-time before David Zitelli scored the winner and they went through 4-3 on aggregate. But it was a fantastic night and hopefully we can have something similar with Maribor, if we can go over there, keep it tight and bring them back to Easter Road when we'll have the fans right behind us."

Although Hibs have played Dnipro in the UEFA Cup since, it is that AEK match which sticks out in the memory of the vast majority of supporters but, Currie agreed, European football every four or five years isn't good enough for the Edinburgh club which was the first in Britain to play on such a stage.

He said: "When you look at that long list of clubs from all round Europe having been at Easter Road in the 60s and 70s you realise just how great the club's history is. Hopefully we'll make a bit of progress this year and keep it going season after season in the future."

Currie's own future may be clouded in a little uncertainty, but, he insisted, he is determined not to let the pending expiry of his contract prey on his mind.

Feeling it unnecessary to state his obvious desire to remain a Hibs player long beyond January, he said: "The next few months are massive for me but I have until January to make my mark. It's something I have to push to the back of my mind, and concentrate on working hard and taking any opportunity."