Kyle Magennis refuses to limit his ambition, insisting there is no reason why Hibs shouldn't target Premiership title and cup win

But, if the past 12 months have been a challenge for Kyle Magennis, he is not allowing it to grind him down.

The 22-year-old former St Mirren captain was still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury sustained at the start of the year when he was signed by Jack Ross and his first few months at Hibs have been stop-start as niggling strains and tough competition for places have denied him a sustained run in the team, with only eight appearances - just three of them starts.

But, on Tuesday night, Magennis and fellow Paisley graduate Stevie Mallan snatched the chance to impress when they came on as second half substitutes in the Betfred Cup quarter final against Alloa and helped turn the game in the Leith side’s favour.

“It was brilliant. The ACL was a big injury and then coming back and having a hamstring problem was not ideal at all.

“I’m feeling very good and the strength in my legs is good and hopefully there are no more injuries and I can get a run in the team.

“All you can do is work your hardest and try to prevent injuries from happening again. But I’m feeling fit and the gaffer put me back in on Tuesday.”

Now searching for a starting berth and his first full 90 minutes of football since January, the busy fixture schedule could help his cause as the manager looks to rotate personnel and ensure his sall squad are nursed through the remainder of a campaign that is beginning to promise so much.

“We’ve got a big squad of very good players and the gaffer’s always looking to chop and change. We’ve got a busy schedule coming up so he’ll be rotating the squad quite a lot and I’m feeling fit and I’m ready to go.”

Victory over Dundee United at Easter Road today will take Jack Ross’ men back into second place in the Premiership, albeit Celtic and Aberdeen still have games in hand but, allied to yet another cup semi final, in the Betfred Cup next month, and with this year’s Scottish Cup contest still to get going, it points to an exciting 2021 for the club. Which is what Magennis expected when he signed for Hibs, in October.

“All the boys are absolutely brilliant, technically it is very good. It's hard to get a good run when there are so many players doing well at the moment but it's a good challenge to have, it means the standard in training is high because everyone is trying to fight for the spot.”

Given his chance in the cup group stage games, he is only now getting up to full speed. But he knows he still has a lot of convincing to do if he is to breakthrough in what is a very competitive area of the team.

“I'm not naive, I know that the boys are all doing well and I'm not going to come into the club and walk straight into the team but all I have to do is keep working as hard as I can and hopefully I can get a run in the team.”

One of the most consistent teams in the league, the fact that Rangers have now joined Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts on the outside looking in, mean that Hibs are also the only side to enjoy back to back semi finals. That has helped to cement their place as favourites to lift the Betfred Cup early in the new year.

While recognising the threat posed by last four opponents St Johnstone and potential final foes Livingston or St Mirren, Magennis says there is no reason to shy away from their star billing, especially as they have already proved themselves capable of bettering all three.

“All four teams now will be looking at every team they’re playing and thinking they can go on and win the cup. They’ll all be confident, as they should be. But I feel like we’ve got a very good group of boys here and we’re just as confident. If we go into the game and play as well as we can, we can progress.

“We're always confident that when we go into every game that we can pick up the points or win games. We just need to take it game by game and put 100% focus into each one, you never know where it can take you.”

The immediate target is second spot in the Premiership as Hibs push towards securing a European spot, but the enthusiastic Magennis refuses to limit his ambitions, even if he does seem to be stretching things.

“We’re in such good form and we can go back into second if we win again this weekend and we’re capable of doing that. I know people are looking at third and fourth best but I think we’re capable of continuing to win games.

“If we keep doing that then we can maybe nick second place or first place. We’re a few points off the top at the moment but you never know what could happen.

“Obviously, with St Mirren beating Rangers [on cup duty] it shows the Old Firm are capable of dropping points so we just need to go into every game looking to take the three points and see what happens from there.”

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