With injury behind him, keeper Stack vows to keep hold of No.1 spot with Hibs

Stack came back into the starting line-up against Motherwell last weekend following a frustrating three-month lay-off with a back problem.

A bulging disc, which later required two courses of injections to control it, had forced him to limp out of a game against Falkirk back in November, and the niggling injury kept flaring up just at the point that it looked like he might be fit enough to return to the squad.

However he put three months of misery behind him last weekend when he was restored to the starting line-up for the first time this year when Hibs travelled to Motherwell. His inclusion in the side at the expense of Graeme Smith was one of five changes at Fir Park, manager John Hughes preferring Stack because of the understanding that he has built up with defender Sol Bamba since the start of the season.

Stack knows exactly how his team-mate, nicknamed Buzz, will feel to be sitting on the sidelines but is determined to keep the gloves for himself for as long as possible and said: "The gaffer has given me another opportunity and, although I was disappointed not have kept a clean sheet or won the game against Motherwell, I was reasonably happy with how I performed individually.

"Being back in the team is brilliant and I have to try to get back to how I was playing before I got injured. To do that I need to get a run of games under my belt to get the consistency and the standard of my game back to what I want it to be.

"Smithy came in and did well. When he arrived at the club he went straight into the side, which is quite unusual when you're a goalkeeper.

"It was a combination of my misfortune and Maka's misfortune and his good fortune and, to be fair to him, he did a good job. He didn't do too much wrong but it is the gaffer's decision as to who plays and I am delighted to be back in there.

"I am grateful that the manager decided to go with me again but I know how Smithy feels because I have been there and done that at several clubs and it can be frustrating sitting there just waiting for your chance again.

"He's a good character though – as are the other two goalies – and, although you can't keep everybody happy all of the time, we all get on well together and keep each other going in training."

Having spent a few months on the sidelines and sitting in the stand watching games, Stack admits that it was one of the most frustrating times that he has experienced in his professional career.

However he praised the Hibs medical team who helped nurse him back to full fitness again, adding: "I kept coming back, doing a fitness test on a Friday and then breaking down again, it was so frustrating.

"It was a really difficult few weeks for me but the physios, the doctors, the whole medical team worked really hard to get me back to full fitness.

"I think that they were probably fed up with me because it wasn't a great time for me and there was a lot of frustration. But they did a great job and I don't think that I ever thanked them properly. Hopefully I won't be back in to see them again for a while though."

Despite his delight at being restored to the first 11 in Lanarkshire, Stack was disappointed not to be able to engineer an upturn in fortunes for his side in the process.

And, having lost at Fir Park, the big Englishman concedes that Saturday's clash with St Johnstone now takes on even more importance: "We all said before the game at Motherwell last weekend that it was probably our biggest game of the season," Stack revealed, "but, having then not won at Fir Park, I think it's an even bigger game this weekend now.

"We have dropped off the pace a little bit and it is really important now that we really consolidate in third position and try to open up a bit of a gap because that's where we want to be.

"It's up to us to really knuckle down and it is a test of character and personality that we have in the squad. Everyone has to stand up and be counted and we need to be able to rely on one another.

"We did have a good defensive record but that has fallen away a little bit in recent weeks and we really need to get back to keeping clean sheets again. We have conceded too many games in the last while, I think we have lost nine in our last three games.

"We had made ourselves a really difficult team to beat because we weren't losing much at the back and, at the same time, we were capable of scoring at the other end as well."

Stack was on the bench for the 5-1 thrashing by St Johnstone earlier this month but saw enough in that match to believe that Hibs can gain some revenge for that result by reversing the result this time around.

The 27-year-old conceded that Hibs lacked the same hunger and desire as their opponents at McDiarmid Park that night but Stack believes that, if they apply themselves in the proper manner this time around, they have enough talent in their side to bag all three points and he continued: "We only played St Johnstone a couple of weeks ago so the one good thing to have come out of that is the fact that we know what to expect from them. They didn't play last weekend because of a frozen pitch so maybe they will feel that little bit fresher but, at the same time, that could mean that they won't be as sharp as we feel.

"And I think that playing them again so quickly after that 5-1 defeat could be a good thing as it gives us a chance to put the demons to bed as soon as possible.

"We know that they are a very physical team, I played with Michael Duberry at Reading and Jody Morris as well. I know a little bit about Cillian Sheridan as well because he was on loan at Plymouth at the same time as me. I thought that they worked harder than us and showed more commitment than us on the night and we need to match them on that side of things. If we can do that, then there's reason why we can't go out and win the game."

Hibs go into Saturday's rematch with Saints on the back of three defeats on the bounce but Stack insists that every team in the SPL will have to navigate their way through a similar run of poor form.

He believes that 24 points from their final 12 games of the season will be enough to secure third spot in the table and continued: "In fairness, I think that every team in the league goes through a bad patch and, hopefully, we've now had ours and come through the other side of it.

"Now we want to just get back to winning ways, focus on putting a run of victories together and keeping that going until the end of the season. We did it earlier in the campaign and that has got to be our target again.

"There are only 12 games left this season and I think we have got to look at averaging two points a game between now and the end of the campaign. I think that's a fair target.

"I really think that we have got to look to get another 24 points on the board to establish ourselves in third place."

In a bid to get his players back to firing on all cylinders Hughes has had them in training every day and Stack hopes that they will begin to reap the benefits this weekend, adding: "The gaffer has had us in every day and it has been a tough, tough weeks so far – and probably rightly so.

"We have not done ourselves any justice in recent weeks with the way that we have played and I think that he will be really working us really hard to make sure that we put that run of results right.

"We need to just keep ourselves grounded, work hard and we already know where we have got to get to.

"The pressure is no greater now than it was two or three months ago, it has always been there, it's just that maybe it's a different kind of pressure now."