Conrad Logan: I knew I'd be penalties hero for Hibs

Conrad Logan has revealed he was confident of being Hibs' hero after his 'fairytale' debut at Hampden.
The Hibs players mob Conrad Logan after his penalty shoot-out heroics. Pic: Neil HannaThe Hibs players mob Conrad Logan after his penalty shoot-out heroics. Pic: Neil Hanna
The Hibs players mob Conrad Logan after his penalty shoot-out heroics. Pic: Neil Hanna

The Irishman produced a remarkable display to help the Easter Road club into the William Hill Scottish Cup final.

The goalkeeper made four top-class saves in a goalless 120 minutes against Dundee United before stopping penalties from Billy McKay and Blair Spittal as Hibs won 4-2 on penalties to set up a final meeting with Rangers.

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Logan had not played since December 2014 when he suffered a serious Achilles injury during a loan spell with Rochdale and was without a club since last summer after ending a 14-year spell with Leicester.

The bulky keeper signed for Hibs on March 31 after No.1 Mark Oxley picked up a suspension for the semi-final, and Alan Stubbs only gave him the nod to start ahead of Otso Virtanen when he arrived at Hampden.

Logan, who had a series of loan spells while at Leicester, added: “I was calm throughout the game. There were no nerves really.

“When you are sitting in the house for so long watching football matches, you want to be part of it. It was my time to go back out and I just enjoyed every minute.

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“As a goalkeeper you are there to make saves. If they get through and you get a chance to pull a few off, just come out and be brave and hopefully the ball hits you, and I got lucky.

“When you make saves, especially in a cup game, you hope the lads can sneak a winner. But the longer it went on, maybe it was written for it to go to penalties.

“I was confident in my ability to save at least one penalty, and to save the first two was obviously a big help.

“I have done well through my career penalty-wise. Before the injury I saved three in three games when I was at Rochdale on loan.

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“You can go a long time without saving one but I’ve had a decent enough record and I was quite confident and excited and looking forward to the penalty shoot-out to pit my wits against the lads.”

Logan, who turns 30 tomorrow, added: “It’s like a fairytale and I’m just delighted it went so well.

“I’m very emotional because it’s been so long since I played and to come back and be given the opportunity in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. I feel proud for my family and everyone who has stuck by me. I’m grateful to the manager for bringing me up here.”