Kevin Harper speaks on Martin Boyle and hails the Hibs star he views as one of Scotland's stand-outs

Harper, who came through the ranks at the Capital club, appeared on Hibs TV as an analyst for Saturday's Scottish Premiership clash with Aberdeen, and fondly remembers his time at the club.

“It's a real buzz every time I come back to Easter Road. I made my debut here as a 17-year-old, came through the ranks, and pretty much made my name here,” he recalled.

"It's always a good feeling coming back here; some really great memories that will stay with me forever, especially scoring the winner against Hearts in front of their fans... it doesn't get much better than that."

Highlighting the performance of Boyle in recent matches, Harper said: “He's very direct; I was the same although he probably scores more goals than I did.

"He's a talisman; he drives the team forward and in games where the team isn't playing well or is under the cosh, he's always a great out-ball.

"With the system Hibs are playing it helps to get Jamie Murphy on the ball with Boyle up top because he'll stretch it and create space for Murphy.

"I think Murphy has to do a little bit more but it comes from Boyle trying to go in behind because once he does that a couple of times the defenders have to sit back a little bit and that creates a bit more space.

"He's probably the only striker at the club with real, genuine pace who can stretch teams and open it up and for me, he works best up top."

Harper, who played more than 100 games for Hibs before joining Derby County in 1998, has also been impressed by Ryan Porteous.

The defender was the subject of transfer interest from Millwall but remained at Easter Road and scored the opening goal in last week's 2-1 win at St Mirren.

Harper added: “Porteous is one of the best centre-halves in the league for me. I think he's one of the best in Scotland. He's aggressive, old-fashioned, but he can play as well and I think the game is losing that.”

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