Stevenson: I'll treasure my chance at Hibs

The diminutive midfielder, 22, had been forced to watch his side in action from the bench or the stand in the first part of this SPL campaign, but was drafted into the starting line-up for the 2-1 win over Kilmarnock by Hibs' caretaker management team of Alistair Stevenson and Gareth Evans.

Stevenson, pictured right, can also play in defence and he lined up in a back four that would have taken most in the 11,256 crowd by surprise.

The player himself conceded that he had not expected to be involved either but is keeping his fingers crossed that new boss Colin Calderwood, who was appointed at the beginning of this week, will also see fit to give him 90 minutes when they take on Aberdeen this weekend.

Having been given his chance at left-back, alongside Paul Hanlon and Sol Bamba in the centre of defence, and Chris Hogg at right-back, he is keen to be involved again but acknowledged that everyone will start with a clean slate under the former Spurs defender.

"I was really surprised to get a start on Saturday, but I was obviously delighted at the same time," he said.

"You couldn't really have blamed Gareth and Alistair if they had just kept the same team that had been playing in the last couple of weeks but they changed it around a bit and that was pleasing for me because it was good to get back into the side. It's the first time that I have started for the first team this season and now I just have to try to work as hard as I can to make sure that I stay in there.

"Training is always buzzing anyway, but I'm sure there has been an extra edge to it. Everyone will be out to win their place in the side, while we're a team, everyone will be out for themselves.

"Jonathan Grounds has done really well since he has come into the side and he maybe felt a bit disappointed to be left out.

"Maybe Gareth and Alistair thought that maybe the side needed freshening up, I certainly won't be taking anything for granted because I know that there are a lot of good players in this side who can play at left back so I will just keep my head down as much as possible and see what I can do."

While his preferred position is in midfield, Stevenson conceded that he's more than willing to continue playing in defence if it gives him more chance of being involved on a regular basis: "I wouldn't say that left back is my best position, in the reserves I really play in midfield, but I am not in the position where I can pick and choose where I play.

"I will just do my best and see what happens. I know that it took me a wee while to get going on Saturday but in the second half things had settled down a bit. I was happy to get 90 minutes under my belt, it's all fair enough to play in bounce games and reserve games and what have you, but first-team games take a lot more out of you both physically and mentally. I know that it might be all change again for the game against Aberdeen - the new manager will want to play his own system - so you just never know what will happen and all you can do is you best and hope that's good enough."

Stevenson admitted that, having not featured for the first team at all before Saturday, it took him - and his colleagues - time to find their poise. "That back four hasn't played together at all this season. If Paul has played this season it's generally been the case that Sol hasn't so with myself in there for the first time in this campaign and Hoggy at right back, it was a completely different line-up from what you would maybe have expected.

"It worked out at the end of the day, it maybe took us a bit of time to settle in and that showed when we conceded the early goal, but I thought that we did well to come back from that. I think we were probably the ones who were expected to be pushing forward from the start but at the beginning of the game it was the other way around really, and Kilmarnock were the ones who were doing all of the pressing.

"But after about 15 minutes we seemed to find our feet and we really steadied ourselves."

Stevenson was relieved not only because he had been handed a place in the team but also with the fact that Hibs had finally managed to record a win on their home patch.

Prior to the game against Killie they had not won a single home game since March 6, ironically also a 1-0 success over the Rugby Park side. Their first win in ten home games must have felt like a millstone had been removed from around the players' necks and Stevenson is hoping that Hibs can go into the game against the Dons on Saturday at noon with renewed vigour: "It had been a long time since we last won at home and it was the first time that we had managed to get a victory in front of the new stand and playing on the new pitch.

"Obviously we're all hoping that win will give us that extra bit of confidence and spring in our step and that we can build on it from there. It sounds like a bit of a cliche but all we can do right now is focus on our next game because the win against Kilmarnock on Saturday will be worth nothing if we go up to Aberdeen and waste all of the hard work that we put in.

"And Hoggy scoring two goals to get us the points was just unbelievable, I don't think anyone would have predicted that one."

Hogg's double header may have given them something to celebrate at the final whistle but the Hibs side were given an early fright when David Silva opened the scoring for Killie after just 80 seconds at Easter Road. However Stevenson insisted that there was no sense of panic among his team-mates because they knew they staill had almost an entire game ahead of them in which to overturn the visitors' lead.

"Obviously the start of the game didn't go the way that we were hoping, but you don't panic when a goal goes in that quickly. When they score so early like that because the good thing is you still have the majority of the game left to pull it back in your favour. "We had about 88 minutes to score, so you just have to get on with it, forget that the goal even happened, and treat the game as if it was still goalless." Stevenson and Evans took the Hibs squad over the weekend and will help Calderwood familiarise himself with his new squad before the trip to Aberdeen.

They are likely to have a hand in helping select the side that runs out at Pittodrie but Stevenson stressed that disruption to any schedules that the players have has been kept to a minimum: "Training has been more or less the same, obviously Gareth and Alistair have their own ideas as to how they do things, but we've more or less carried on as we were when John (Hughes] and Chipper (Brian Rice] were in charge.

"They seem to have the same kind of ideaology about things, they all want us to play a passing game, play the ball along the ground, so things haven't changed too much.

"We have been doing a bit of extra work on defending this week and last, and to be honest the fortnight has just flown in.

"When something like that happens and you lose your manager, I think that getting a game under your belt is probably the best thing that can happen."