Hibs players stunned by resilience of 'warrior' defying all expectations

Attacker takes giant leap in recovery from life-threatening heart condition

McKirdy came on as a late sub against Motherwell.

A warrior whose love of football managed to shine through, even during the darkest of times. Not a bad way to describe Harry McKirdy. Pretty spot on, actually.

Elie Youan, a French winger who deserves extra points for being so eloquent in his second language, spoke for many in the Hibs squad as he rained down praise upon a team-mate whose recovery from a life-threatening heart problem continued with a major step in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Motherwell. In a game unlikely to be remembered for very long by many in attendance, the sight of McKirdy entering the fray as a late replacement for Dylan Vente represented a real highlight.

Sure, there might only have been only four minutes – plus injury time – remaining by the time the Englishman came sprinting on to run around with typical livewire energy for the closing stages. But he was in the vicinity, if not directly involved in play, when Youan bagged his dramatic injury-time equaliser. And when you remember that the 26-year-old had heart surgery as recently as August, even a few fleeting moments of first-team action seems mightily impressive.

“I think he is a warrior,” said Youan. “He loves football. When you get through something like this, you have to have the love of football to stay focused on what you do. He is back and I think it is mental, he is a very strong guy. A good guy as well, I'm really happy for him,

“He's been through a lot lately. He's been working hard to come back. I'm happy for him. To be honest, I can't imagine what he has been through.”

Youan said the reception to McKirdy “before and after” the game had touched many in the squad, revealing: “The gaffer had some words for him and we were happy for him, even when he came on the pitch the crowd was really kind to him, which is good. I think now he knows everybody is behind him. That gives him the motivation to improve and play for the team.”

Montgomery confessed to having a few qualms about giving McKirdy even a couple of minutes’ game time. Regardless of medical reassurances, he had wanted to give the 26-year-old a more immersive training experience during the team’s mid-season break before exposing him to competitive football.

In the end, a combination of need – the Hibs squad is wafer thin at the moment – and McKirdy’s own enthusiasm proved decisive, Monty admitting: “If you talk to Harry, he’s really positive. Not positive he’s going to play 90 minutes. But he can have an impact off the bench. You don’t need to be 90-minute fit for that.

“Looking at the squad at the minute, everyone will help if available. So we definitely won’t be putting pressure on Harry, given the situation he’s been through. We have to monitor it weekly and hopefully, in this break, we can get him into training on a regular basis – and see where we go from there.

“I took over the squad and Harry was injured at the time, the same as Chris Cadden and Jake Doyle-Hayes. For me, I’ve got to know them really well, they’re all working really hard to get back fit.

“Harry is an exciting player. From what I can see in the times he’s trained, he’s a real livewire. And that’s what you need, when you want to make an impact from the bench – someone with that ability to change things.”

Chris Cadden has been given the all-clear to join in full training with the Hibs squad travelling to Dubai for their mid-season camp next week. But Josh Campbell will be left at home after picking up a painful ankle injury in last week’s derby loss, the versatile all-rounder awaiting the results of a scan to determine the extent an injury that will keep him out of action for at least another month.

Speaking with optimism about Cadden and, potentially, Doyle-Hayes making progress during the winter shutdown, Montgomery said: “The guys coming back from injury won’t be fully match fit. But if they can be available to play some minutes, they’ll get some bounce games to get them ready to get into the first team."