Kevin Dabrowski determined to convince Shaun Maloney he's Hibs' best goalkeeper

The Polish stopper has impressed in reserve of Matt Macey since earning a man-of-the-match award in his debut against Hearts over five years after joining the club.

He’s played three more times since then, including getting clean sheets in consecutive 0-0 draws against Dundee and St Johnstone after Macey picked up an injury in the stalemate with Celtic.

Despite this, Dabrowski found himself watching on from the sidelines when Hibs travelled to Motherwell on Sunday and advanced to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup with a 2-1 victory.

Refusing to be despondent, the 23-year-old will use this as motivation to drive them on further as he seeks to take the gloves from Macey when the two battle it out for the No.1 role this summer.

“Of course I'm disappointed,” he told the Evening News. “I've waited so long for this opportunity and I've been really pleased with my performances. My first four games for Hibs I got three clean sheets so I felt amazing.

“The hunger is even bigger now and I want to play more, to win games for Hibs. But everyone knows what I'm capable of now: that I can play at the highest level. Everyone knows I always play for the badge for Hibs, that I give everything.

“The manager spoke to me and told me he was very pleased with what I've done. He said he couldn't say anything bad about my performances, I didn't do anything wrong.

“At the beginning of the season Matt was the number one, but now I've shown to everyone – to the coaches, to the fans – that I'm ready to be the number one and can give the manager a selection headache thinking about who should be between the sticks. I'm ready to become number one and will do my best to do so next season.

“It drives me, gives me extra motivation and pushes me more to get better. That's what I love and because of the competition I've become a better goalkeeper.”

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.