Motherwell v Hibernian: Calderwood hopes Thornhill will add muscle to faltering Hibs

• Mark Thornhill, who has signed for Hibs on condition he passes a medical, played for Nottingham Forest when Colin Calderwood was manger there Picture: Getty Images

COLIN Calderwood has been the Hibernian manager long enough to know what the team's main problems are. In new signing Matt Thornhill he hopes to have found at least a partial solution.

The 22-year-old, who will join the Edinburgh club on a two-and-a-half-year deal provided he passes a medical over the weekend, is expected to add substance to a midfield which has consistently come off second best in the battle for physical supremacy. He joins on a free transfer from Nottingham Forest, where he previously worked with the Hibs manager, and, all being well, looks like making his debut against Rangers on Wednesday.

"Matt is a player I know very well from our time working together at Nottingham Forest," Calderwood said. "He is a dynamic player with terrific goal-scoring potential and I think he will give us extra options in the midfield area.

"He has a proven record of scoring goals, and is an uncomplicated player who gets the job done. Matt is a player with a great work ethic and I think he will play a key role in the continued development of this football club."

A player who can get the job done is something Hibs badly need just now as they head for this afternoon's match at Motherwell just four points off the bottom of the SPL. Having scored only a handful of league goals for the Forest first team, Thornhill may not be the answer to his new club's lack of firepower, but at 6ft 1in and over 13 stone he should at least constitute a weightier presence than many of his midfield team-mates.

Of course, Hibs' lack of bite in the centre of park is not new. Calderwood's predecessor John Hughes recognised it as a major failing, but his attempt to rectify it by signing Dutchman Edwin de Graaf was not a success. De Graaf is still with the club, but despite being around the same size as Thornhill, he has added little or no physical bite to the team. Calderwood warned this week that one signing would not suffice to turn Hibs' fortunes around, and he appears certain to make a couple of additional recruits before the transfer window closes. In the meantime, he will expect his team to emulate Thornhill's "uncomplicated" style as they look for a third victory of the season against Motherwell.

Hibs' attempt to play more robustly in recent weeks may have provoked the displeasure of those supporters who prefer a sophisticated style, but Calderwood has emphasised that there is little place at present for finery. Good football is for good times, as Ian Murray emphasised by referring to the New Year derby in which his team lost narrowly after being widely expected to take a serious beating.

"We lost at Tynecastle and were slaughtered a wee bit for the way we played," Murray said. "But if we have to play that way then it will not bother the manager. He will have us playing whatever way he sees fit to get out of this.

"There will be a few players who will enjoy playing this way and a few who won't. We don't have options now. If it means kicking the ball over the stand to get some points then we will kick the ball over the stand.

"If people don't want to watch it then don't watch it. We just need to do that now and take our chances."

Having supported Hibs as a boy, Murray is known for his commitment to the club. The willingness of others to fight for the team's future has been called into question, but the holding midfielder insisted that everyone was just as determined to break clear of the relegation zone.

"I think there are plenty of Hibs fans in that dressing room. If there are one or two who are not, then it is more than made up by those who are diehards.

"Guys like Liam Miller and Kevin McBride have come here and are determined to see Hibs do well now. I can see they are hurting just like me. If you're part of a team that is relegated, you can never change that on your CV. We're already there as the ones who lost to Ayr United. It was a Scottish Cup shock and you don't want it against your name."

That midweek cup defeat by Ayr was the low point of Hibs' season to date, and Murray is desperate to avoid another similar experience. "I said to the manager that my feelings after Ayr were the lowest I had ever experienced in football," he said. "It was a combination of emotions. You're angry, disappointed, crestfallen. It was not great.

"I've had other lows before but not like that. We lost to Ross County last year [also in the cup] but we had the league to focus on - we were still chasing Europe at that stage. Now we have to keep ourselves in the SPL.

"It is so disappointing that a new manager has come in and we have not shown him what we can do as yet. Ayr was a great chance to get a morale boost for the season, but we didn't.

"I've been in runs before where we couldn't get a win, but this is close to the worst I've known at Easter Road. We are in a terrible rut and we can't get out of it, quite frankly. There's no getting away from the fact we are in a relegation battle now."

Calderwood has clearly signed Thornhill believing he can be a useful weapon in that battle, but he needs more than one player in his armoury. The rest of the team will have to buy into Murray's assessment if they are to fight their way out of trouble.