Five years ago today, Hibs lost 2-1 to Ross County in the final of the League Cup at Hampden Park thanks to a last minute goal from Alex Schalk.
Jackson Irvine played for the Staggies that day and will forever be grateful to the club for rescuing his career but he is determined not to do them any favours this afternoon in their bid to escape relegation.
Victory would see Hibs consolidate third position in the table and go along way to securing European football at Easter Road next season.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference Irvine said: “I have amazing memories of my time at Ross County. It was a huge building block for my career, coming out of the youth team at Celtic and having a difficult loan spell at Kilmarnock the season before, it wasn’t really until I went to County that I found my feet.
“The club helped progress me into the player that I have become since then. We achieved some fantastic things during my time at the club and I have very fond memories of those two seasons and what it meant for my career.
“It is a brilliant place to play your football, but we are in a good strong position to finish third and that has got to be the target now for the end of the season. These final two games could really push us in to a really strong position going into the split, which is always key, especially after a couple of poor results in the last couple of games.
We have to remember that’s what is at stake and it is still ultimately in our hands.
“We have put ourselves in this position and the reason we are there is that we are a good team and we have the players that can pull off something special this season and there is plenty of time to do it.”
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.
