Hibs’ young defender Kane O’Connor is determined to build on his experiences with the Scotland U17 squad after completing his final campaign with the age group and now he’s determined to continue his development with both the Hibernian Academy and the next national age group
The highly thought of teenage centre-half was with Brian McLaughlin’s squad in Greece but he was suspended for the opening loss to Greece, then returned for the defeat to Norway and a 1-0 win over Germany .
Speaking to the SFA website the 17 year old said: “I thought against Germany that we were the better team for the whole game. Basically, we fought for each other.
“We know how good a team we are because of previous results. We’d basically not lost a game for two years. So if we were going to go out, we wanted to go out the right way.
“My immediate ambition is to play as many games as I can for the development team. I’ve really enjoyed it since turning full-time. I just need to try and take my chances, whenever they come.
“Ryan Porteous is a good role model in that regard. He’s another young centre-back who has captained Scotland’s Under-19s and done well whenever he’s had an opportunity with Hibs. That’s what I have to push for. Ryan’s also great with me in training. He helps me out with tips here and there.
“Darren McGregor does the same, whether it’s when I’ve joined in with first-team training or away from the pitch around the training ground. I’m lucky to have good senior professionals around me like that.”
The Hibernian Development Squad have two big matches next week as they look to progress towards a league and cup double. The side face Celtic in the league at Cappielow on Monday afternoon, before hosting the Glasgow side in the SFA Youth Cup Semi-Final at the Hibernian Training Centre on Thursday. Kick off is at 12pm, with entry via a donation.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
