Brandon Barker has thanked Hibs for his ‘incredible’ loan spell at the club.
The young winger joined the club in the summer on loan from Premier League giants Manchester City and has played his part in helping Hibs to a top four finish.
An injury limited his playing time but he returned last week to come off the bench against Celtic and did likewise yesterday against Kilmarnock, finishing off with a superb solo goal in time added on.
His skill and speed have made him a firm favourite with the supporters and he admits that he has ‘loved’ his tenure in the capital.
Barker return to Manchester in the summer and will prepare for a close season with the English champions. Breaking into the first team there will be difficult but he will not be short of offers.
After the game Barker spoke to Hibernian TV: “My thought are to finish off here and enjoy the rest of my football and enjoy the summer but I have to say thank you to Hibs. It’s been unbelievable for me. I had a really hard, difficult season last year. I wasn’t really happy but this year I have been happy. I’ve loved it here,honestly it’s been incredible.
“Last week I came on (against Celtic) and took it by the scruff of the neck but this game it took me 10/15 minutes to get going and the gaffer (Neil Lennon) got on my case but I got the goal.
“It was a great pass from Swanny (Danny Swanson). We have a good link up and luckily I finished it off.
“All credit to the boys and the manager. He wants us to play and today we had to manage the game. It was a bit shaky at the end, I’m not going to lie. Luckily we got the win. They gave us a really tough game today.
“Flo (Florian Kamberi) and Jamie (MacLaren) have come in and what a difference they have made. Jamie is always there and is scoring such important goals for us. His movement is incredible. Flo was class again today and Scotty (Allan) has done well with an assist and Whits (Steven Whittaker) was my man of the match today.
“The season before I came to Hibs I was out for seven months with a similar injury to this one. It has been very tough mentally watching them for three months even though the boys were doing tremendously well.
“It was very hard not feeling part of that but I’m back now t help the boys get over the finish line and push for second place.
“Aberdeen next week will be a tough game. They had a great result (against Hearts) last night. I seems when the pressure is on they perform and that’s what we need to do next week. It’s a six point game and they are a great side.
“We are the underdogs but we are looking forward to it. I’m buzzing about the game.”
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.
