McBride won't let uncertainty dilute commitment to Hibs

Kevin McBRIDE knows his Easter Road career may well be drawing to a close, but as long as he's asked to pull on a green and white jersey the midfield star is determined to help steer Hibs to both SPL safety and onwards in the Scottish Cup.

Having been told by new boss Colin Calderwood he's free to leave if he can find a new club, McBride answered the call when it came to replace skipper Ian Murray for the second half of the Cup clash with Ayr United.

It was the first time he'd tasted top-flight action since Calderwood's inaugural match as manager of the Edinburgh outfit, a 4-2 defeat against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in which McBride himself was injured, replaced halfway through by Derek Riordan.

Since then the former Celtic, Motherwell and Falkirk player - one of former boss John Hughes' first signings - has been left to cool his heels, a seat on the bench the closest he'd come to playing in almost three months, and ten matches, in the interim.

One of some 16 players out-of-contract in the summer, the 29-year-old was told the devastating news that he was surplus to requirements and could negotiate a move elsewhere as Calderwood began reshaping the squad he had inherited from Hughes, his first moves being to release Lee Currie before accepting a 250,000 offer from Leicester City for Ivory Coast internationalist Sol Bamba.

Today, however, McBride was intent on pushing his own troubles aside, anxious to play as big a part as possible in reviving a season which has so far failed to deliver on its promises and, fingers crossed, to perhaps even tempt Calderwood into a change of heart. He said: "It's been frustrating over the past few months, particularly with the way results have gone. It's hard to watch the boys not getting the results we want every week but for me it's been a case of training every day, keeping myself fit and waiting for that chance again."

If his own long-term future is clouded in uncertainty, McBride's short-term focus is on helping engineer an upturn in Hibs' fortunes, not least making the most of a second chance to dispose of Ayr in next week's replay at Somerset Park.

The fact Hibs have the opportunity to do so was thanks very much to goalkeeper Mark Brown's last-gasp save from the part-time Second Division outfit's substitute striker Andy Rodgers which ensured the fourth round tie ended goal-less.

Revealing that, if part of Calderwood's squad, it would be his first visit to Somerset Park, McBride said: "It was another disappointing result, but no disrespect to Ayr, we should be beating teams like them, especially at home. We are the SPL team but credit to them for coming to Easter Road and getting a draw.

"We're on a poor run at the moment as everyone knows but we simply have to stick together and try to get that win.

"I'm sure we'll get a warm welcome at Somerset Park, somewhere I've never played before."

McBride acknowledged it could have been much, much worse for Hibs if it wasn't for Brown's save, but, he insisted, he and his team-mates cannot continue to talk about not getting the breaks in matches, such as Derek Riordan deflecting a Liam Miller shot onto Ayr goalkeeper David Crawford's bar in what could have been a game defining moment.

He added: "When you see someone going through as their guy did in the last minute you fear the worst but Mark brought off a great save.

"It was probably the only save he had to make all game and it says it all about him that having had very little to do he was still so alert. "We can say we've not been getting the breaks in games but it's been going on too long for us to just keep saying that. It's disappointing every week when we don't win and, to be honest, games like this should be won.

"We had a few chances but we should have created a lot more against a team who are two divisions below us."

While Hibs remain favourites to progress, McBride conceded Ayr have every right to fancy their chances following their Easter Road performance in what was only their second competitive match in seven weeks. Their match fitness will only have benefited from their 90 minutes in Edinburgh while Saturday's league match away to Alloa Athletic will also stand them in good stead as they prepare to host Hibs next Wednesday night.

McBride said: "Ayr will fancy their chances but we also fancy ourselves to go there and get the win we need.

"Before then, however, we have the small matter of Celtic at home on Saturday.

"We can't afford to think ahead to Wednesday, we want to put on a performance against Celtic and hopefully get the sort of result which will give us a lift."