How Harry McKirdy is settling into Hibs as club engages military marksman for inspirational talk

Harry McKirdy found it a ‘bit of a culture shock’ in his first couple of days as a Hibs player, according to assistant manager Adam Owen.

The Easter Road No.2 was on media duties in place of boss Lee Johnson, who is continuing to recover from gallbladder removal surgery, and spoke about the deadline-day signing’s introduction to Scottish football.

McKirdy played around 40 minutes of the 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock after coming on as a replacement for Ewan Henderson and although he showed flashes of his talent and had one good opportunity in front of goal, he admitted afterwards that he had found it a bit helter-skelter.

Speaking about the 25-year-old’s arrival at Hibs Owen said: “Harry missed a bit of training when he signed because he had a couple of late nights with the transfer window.

“He found it a bit of a culture shock in terms of how we work and what we demand of players in training.

“But he has adapted really well, some nice touches and looked really good. It’s a massive positive to get another player through the door with quality, that’s a goal threat.”

McKirdy’s clothing choices have been the talk of the town given some of the gear he’s been seen wearing, and Owen joined in the good-natured ribbing.

“His dress sense has certainly cheered up the changing room. So far, so good; he has integrated really well and the lads have taken to him on a personal note and obviously from a playing point of view.

Harry McKirdy, second left, at Hibs training

“Everybody’s different. A squad is built up of many different characters and that’s what makes a club. If everyone was the same there would be a load of robots walking around and that doesn’t add to the ambience of the training ground.”

Earlier on Thursday Hibs had a visit from a serving sniper; part of Johnson’s guest-speaker series where he brings in people from different walks of life to impart their knowledge and advice to the squad.

"It’s a bit of schooling, it's like drawing on anybody and everybody to try and give these lads that little bit more resilience,” the Hibs boss explained earlier this season.

“We have to create this environment which is consistent. In terms of the sniper, it’s definitely about control isn’t it?"

Opening up on the visit from the marksman Owen added: “The manager is always trying to get players thinking in different ways and challenging them.

"It was really good in terms of showing the different pressures – similar pressures to some extent, although life and death is a little bit different – but some really good examples of dealing with pressure, stress, anxiety etc.

"It was good; really insightful to take different people's opinions on things and how they channel and look at things in a different way and I think the lads enjoyed it.

"I’ve experienced a few similar talks over the years at different clubs although there were a couple in some countries I've been in that I didn't understand and that was a bit tricky but they're always good, and always positive.

"I think it's just good to get the players thinking in a different way about their own actions and how they deal with different situations and even desires and motivations to be better."