I love the pressure of being the man brought in to fill John’s boots

IT’S MALL OR NOTHING

actually hitting the ball, and it’s years of practice, not something which comes naturally. It’s like a golf swing. You practice, practice, practice.

“My dad would video from behind the goal so I could study my technique. As the years went on I changed a little bit.

“I would count how many steps I’d take, which foot went in front of the other, just that repetitiveness. It helps with you seeing the goal and it’s paid off.

“I was woeful at the start. The ball was flying everywhere – a few windows got threatened!

“When I was at school I’d take a bag of balls and I’d hit free-kicks through sheer boredom.

“I wanted to make sure I had a different side to my game which would put me ahead of the rest. Every side I played in I was on set-pieces and corners.

“On my days off I’d put a seven-a-side goal in front of a full-sized goal and use it as a wall. I’d have a few friends with me and I’d practice.

‘I reaped the benefits of that at the start of the season – now I’m dying for a goal.”

The midfielder hasn’t scored for three months and he doesn’t try to hide a dip.

He said: “I maybe shot myself in the foot by getting off to such a flier. I was on cloud nine for the first two months. I thought I was going to Real Madrid!

“But my performances have not where I’ve wanted them to be. I had meetings with the manager to get me back to where I was, to get my high standards back. As a team, we know we shouldn’t be where we are in the league. We know some of our performances haven’t been the best and we need to start performing better.

“The manager says it the way it is. He’ll tell us before he says anything in public. Standards are not what they should have been.

“When results aren’t going your way, you need someone on your back. That’s the kind of manager you want. He’s not the type to take a back seat and let us get on with it. He’s on our backs every day, making sure training is good.

“We need to start showing our fans where Hibs are as a team and get up that table.”

STEVIE MALLAN