Mickey Weir: Why the injury might have been a blessing in disguise for refocused Kevin Nisbet

From a rare positive day for Hibs in what’s been a difficult time for the club, it was particularly pleasing to see Kevin Nisbet walking off the Fir Park pitch with the match ball under his arm.

Kevin didn't play for a long time and has had to build himself back up, but I think you could see at the weekend that he's got his sharpness back. He's improved game by game since he's returned.

He had three chances at Motherwell and scored them all. I don't think you'll see a better finish than the third goal. It's great composure; a real striker's finish.

To me he’s carrying himself differently than he was before the knee injury which kept him out for 10 months. He looks as if he's missed the game being out. It's such a long road back from that type of injury so it's great for him to be hitting the back of the net again because it will only give him confidence over the next few months to go and score more goals.

Kevin Nisbet with the match ball after netting a hat-trick for Hibs in the 3-2 win over Motherwell on Sunday. Picture: SNS

He’s looking sharper now than he did before the injury, which is obviously great for a number of reasons, particularly as you don’t know if it’s going to hinder a player’s long-term prospects when it’s something that serious.

But before the injury it also looked to me like he wasn't enjoying the game. There are good times and bad times in football and serious injuries are undoubtedly the worst part. But injuries can also remind you how lucky you are to be playing in the first place.

Kevin would've missed the game. It's the worst feeling for any player, in any division, at any level, to be injured. I know that. You hate not being able to contribute to the team, but on the most basic level you just miss playing football because it's what you love. It's maybe just taken an injury like that to remind him of that because it's such a big miss when you can't do it.

I've seen it many times in the past where players can be refocused because their future has been decided for them. It would have been weighing on his mind before but now he’s had this long journey to return you should hopefully see a new Kevin Nisbet.

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