'The fans, the football, it's just clicked' - Scott Allan on returning to Hibs, feeling wanted, and managerial upheaval

Hibs midfielder Scott Allan believes he has finally found a settled home in football, six months into his third stint at Easter Road.

The playmaker kickstarted his career by joining the Capital club during Alan Stubbs' tenure, his performances attracting interest from boyhood heroes Rangers. But it was Celtic who made a move for the mercurial midfielder, signing him on a four-year deal in August 2015.

Allan's time at Parkhead was not as productive as his first spell at Hibs, the Glasgow-born player making just 13 league appearances for the Hoops. Loan spells at Rotherham - again under Stubbs - and at Dundee under Neil McCann were similarly hot and cold, but the former Dundee United youngster hit the ground running when he returned to Easter Road on loan in the second half of the 2017/18 season as part of a convoluted three-way deal that saw Hibs striker Simon Murray head to Dens Park and Scott Bain, on loan at Hibs from Dundee, join Celtic with Allan coming the other way.

The former Scotland Under-21 international scored three times in 12 games, including a strike against Hearts in an Edinburgh derby, as Neil Lennon's Hibs side won plaudits for their fast-paced attacking football.

But despite the success of that loan spell, he returned to Celtic and didn't feature beyond inclusion in some early-season European squads. The announcement of a pre-contract deal with Hibs in January 2019 appeared to be a good fit for all.

Since returning to the Capital for a third stint and his second permanent spell, Allan has struck seven goals in 28 appearances - the highest tally of his career to date.

Speaking to the Evening News' sister title The Scotsman, he said being settled at the Hibees has been a shot in the arm - and had a bit of a dig at his previous clubs with regards to game time.

“It’s definitely the most settled I’ve been in a good few years," he admitted.

“The fact I’m playing football every week and have a good association with the club is just brilliant for me. It’s the only place I’ve been given a fair run of games to produce my best football."

Allan's 28 games in all competitions so far this term is his longest run of matches since his first season at Hibs, when he featured 42 times. For a player still relatively young, his career path reads more like that of journeyman striker. Ten different clubs, eight loan spells, single-figure appearance figures at five of those teams.

But, as has been said before, he appears to have found a combination at Hibs where everything works.

He continued: “I have a good connection with the Easter Road fans and they know how I play. I maybe get a bit of leeway in certain things but it’s the place I’ve played the most football so I have been able to show that.

“[At Hibs] we play a certain way that suits me. The fans, the football, it has just clicked.”

Allan will likely be in the starting line-up when Hibs take on his former club Dundee United in the Scottish Cup next weekend, with Jack Ross at the helm - the Easter Road side's third head coach in around 12 months. But despite being signed by Neil Lennon and playing under Paul Heckingbottom and the former St Mirren and Sunderland boss, Allan insists the managerial merry-go-round is one that players have to accept.

“I wouldn’t say it was unsettling, just the nature of the beast that is football," he explained. “I’ve been through it before, people come and go from clubs - managers and players.

“It’s just the way it is. For me, it’s about keeping focus and doing the best I can on the park.”