Exclusive:Hibs double Player of the Year winner 'ready' to step into injured star's place in starting XI

From double Player of the Year to picking up shifts whenever his team need him, Jordan Obita’s had to demonstrate reserves of previously untapped patience in this season of extremes. The Englishman’s willingness and ability to put the greater good ahead of personal ambition has, in many ways, been typical of the all-for-one mentality that has helped propel Hibs from relegation contenders to European wannabes.

The left back, set to reclaim his place in the starting XI after coming on for stand-out wide man Nicky Cadden early in Sunday’s 2-0 Scottish Cup quarter-final loss at Celtic Park, is adamant that Hibs losing their unbeaten run in all competitions – after 15 games – must only become a pause in their progress. If they cover the final nine games of this season without suffering loss, well, they’ll almost certainly be playing group stage European football next season, for starters.

Obita, named Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year last season, says it’s easy to explain gaffer David Gray’s ability to maintain unity of purpose even among those left watching from the sidelines for long spells, revealing: “I just think it's just the group that we have. You know, we haven't got any selfish individuals.

“Everybody's trying to push each other. And look at the great moments we’ve had because of that.

“We went all those games undefeated. Not many teams can do that in this league - apart from Celtic, probably. Our aim now is to finish the season really strong – and go undefeated again.

“This is the first time in my career where I've had to be patient and wait for my chance. But the team's done really well. That’s the most important thing.

“I never really expected it (being out of the team), but it happened. And, you know, I worked hard in training, you know, the games I've been coming on and trying to see the game out to help the team. That's the most important thing.

“I’m very lucky to be able to be quite versatile. And I'm happy to help out the team, you know, come on the bench and come on wherever, wherever needed.

“I’m ready, I hope. If I get my chance, my fitness is there. When you’re not starting, they put you through different drills in training, so hopefully I'll be all right.

“Unfortunately there's a lot of running involved when you don’t play! But I've been coming on sometimes for half an hour. I think against Motherwell I came on in the first half, when Nicky broke his nose. But, no, I'm in good shape. I keep myself well.

“And I played, what, 70 something minutes against Celtic. So I felt OK. So, no, I didn’t have to do extra running in training. I’m feeling good.

“I wasn't expecting to come on that early, but no, hopefully, you know, Nicky's not too bad. And if I get my chance, I can hopefully take it.”

Run ended by Brendan Rodgers’ Champions League adventurers as Celtic chase Treble

Obita, a natural replacement for Cadden now that the left wingback has been ruled out with a hamstring strain for the next few games, at least, was bowled over by the sight and sound of 7000 Hibs fans standing to applaud their team as the remarkable series of games without loss was finally ended by Brendan Rodgers’ Treble-chasing Champions League adventurers, saying: “Yeah, obviously it's amazing, you know, that many fans can turn up for an away game. I think that’s definitely because of how well we've been doing over the last couple of months.

“It doesn't matter who you're playing against. It hurts when you lose. But we hopefully can go on another run and finish the season really well.

“It doesn't matter who you're playing against in that Celtic squad. They're all, you know, top players. We kept it 1-0 for a very long time.

“They've got so much quality that they can hurt you at any moment. So even though we lost, we can still be proud of what we've done.

“And what we've got to do now is look forward, try to do it again. Yeah, we're trying to get these European places.”

Hoops Scottish Cup hopes hold key to Conference League for third-placed side

The team finishing third in the Scottish Premiership, a prize within reach of a good three or four sides just now, will only be guaranteed Europa Conference League football if Celtic go onto win the Scottish Cup. Which seems more than likely, right?

“Oh, you'd like to think they’re favourites,” said Obita. “But, you know, football's crazy sometimes. And all we can do now is look forward to the rest of the season and try and cement top six first - and then look for that third-fourth position.

GET THE LATEST HIBS NEWS DIRECTLY TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX WITH OUR FREE NEWSLETTER SERVICE

“It would be amazing to get into Europe because, you know, obviously we didn't have a great start, and no-one had predicted the turnaround that we had. And we beat Celtic as well during that run, which is another big thing. So, I think if we just keep doing what we're doing, we should be OK.”

Your next Hibs read - Euro points target revealed as Gray’s men chase daunting points total