Super-chilled Hibs goal hero chasing red-hot scoring streak - all part of the plan for Bowie

Bowie celebrates his goal - which should have been the winner. | SNS Group

As cool as the other side of the pillow but cutting through defenders like a hot knife through the least substantial low calorie spread, Kieron Bowie certainly brings an extra dimension to this Hibs team. After opening his scoring account against Dundee on Sunday, his next goal is, well, more goals. Helped by nailing down a starting spot in David Gray’s first-choice XI.

Still working his way back from a pre-season injury with another half-hour cameo in the 2-2 draw at Easter Road, Bowie was entitled to think that his goal with less than 20 minutes remaining had secured three points for the home side. Simon Murray, of course, had other ideas.

Yet this most mature of 21-year-olds, already a dad to twin girls and benefiting from the foresight of buying a home in Scotland in order to make family life easier, isn’t about to start whining or whinging about being denied his match-winning moment. He’s far too chilled for that.

CATCH THE LATEST EPISODE OF OUR HIBS HUB PODCAST HERE

Asked if he feels under any pressure to perform after Hibs paid around £600,000 for his services AND handed him a four-year contract, the Scotland Under-21 striker insisted: “Nah. Honestly, I don’t really feel pressure. Seriously. I’m just coming in and playing my usual game, hoping to make an impact.

“That’s what I’ve come here to do. That’s what I am to do.

“I think every striker wants a goal. It builds confidence to do certain things you maybe wouldn’t do if you’ve not had a goal in a while.

“So a goal so early is really great, coming off the bench. It’s good to get it out of the way and have no added pressure on me, personally.

“When you score, the emotion, honestly there’s nothing better than putting the ball in the back of the net. That’s my first. And hopefully there will be many more this season.”

Being held back to reduce the risk of injury is a difficult sort of limbo for any otherwise fit player to endure, Bowie admitting: “I mean, when I found out I wasn’t starting on Friday, I was thinking: ‘Oh, I really wish I was playing.’

“But at the same time, you have to take a step back. I thought I would get a chance to come on – and I believed I could make an impact.

“Obviously I was injured and I’ve played the last three games, half an hour each game. We’re almost there.

“I don’t want to rush into it and do too much, then have the injury reoccur and I’m not right. We know we can’t push it too soon. That is always difficult.

“Next weekend? I mean, I hope so. Everyone hopes to start every week. But who knows what the manager is thinking? He will have his own ideas on selection, obviously.”

Insisting he had settled at Hibs quickly, Bowie explained: “I already had a house back up here, so I’ve just moved in there. It’s been sort of flawless.

“I’ve not really had to settle at all. Folk at the club were saying that, with other players, foreign players, they had to show them around areas to live, show them new places. I just moved in and came straight into training!

“It was always part of the plan. I had it here because my partner, who is from here, and my little girls could come home. Or I could come home in the summer, have a place to go and stay.

“I always had that. So it worked out really well. Even though I’m really young, I have a good plan.

“And it definitely makes life easier, having no doubt in my mind that the family are happiest up here. If you have a happy life, you will be happy on the pitch. No doubt about it.”

With head coach David Gray having added Bowie, Mykola Kuharevich, Junior Hoilett – still to play due to injury – and Nicky Cadden over recent weeks, creating and scoring goals shouldn’t be an issue, the Fifer saying: “If you look around the changing room, there is definitely the ability there to do much better than we have been doing. That’s the frustrating thing, that we’ve not been doing as well as we should. That will come in time.

“It takes time for everyone to gel together. As a team, we haven’t really played together for that long. So I think it will come.

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

“One hundred per cent, the gaffer can get the best out of us. We’ve shown it some flashes, haven’t we?

“But we’ve conceded too many goals at the other end. And that’s something we ALL have to work on.

“That can be the strikers pressing, the midfielders getting up, defenders defending. It’s a collective. And it’s never one person’s fault, it’s the whole squad who take responsibility.

“I think three points will do us the world of good, when we get that win. That’s what we’re trying to achieve every week, isn’t it?

“The two games against Celtic, they’re tough to assess. Because going to Celtic Park, even them coming here, they’re going to be really difficult games.

“I wasn’t here for the St Mirren game. But there isn’t really any pressure – we look to get the three points next week.”

Explaining that his move for the goal, with its similarities to a near miss against Celtic, hadn’t been something pre-planned, Bowie said: “It’s just sort of off the cuff, isn’t it? The ball comes to me in a game, I do what comes to me naturally. It’s not something I work on, to be honest.

“I think when you score to make it 2-1 so late in the game, yeah, you maybe think it’s the winner. But to concede a goal so late is not really good enough. Everyone knows that, anyway.

“There are still a lot of positives to build on from the game. But there are obvious negatives, as well.

“Yeah, obviously there’s anger. But it’s mainly disappointment, I think. There’s not much you can say. It’s self-inflicted, isn’t it, really?

“That’s what has happened in the last few games. We have to improve in that area.”