Why the unheralded Paul McGinn could prove to be Hibs’ shrewdest January signing

Paul McGinn’s arrival at Hibs was relatively unheralded among supporters in comparison to the excitement that greeted the loan signings of Stephane Omeonga, Greg Docherty and Marc McNulty in January.

Indeed, there were some on social media who seemed pretty underwhelmed by the prospect of recruiting a 29-year-old right-back from St Mirren on an 18-month contract. However, early signs are that the older brother of Hibs legend John McGinn could prove to be as shrewd an acquisition as any made by Jack Ross in the last transfer window.

He came off the bench at half-time in the 2-2 draw with his former club on Saturday and enjoyed an assured debut at Easter Road. He followed that up last night with a confident and committed display in his first start for Hibs in the 2-1 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox.

While it is always a precarious game trying to judge the merits of a new signing after just one or two games, McGinn has certainly shown enough so far to suggest that he is equipped to become Hibs’ first-choice right-back for the remainder of this season and beyond.

After restricting St Mirren’s threat and having a few promising moments going forward on Saturday, the new recruit competed well against Ryan Kent at Ibrox and looked comfortable on the ball whenever Hibs tried to play. There was one moment in the first half when he showed admirable determination to sprint up the right wing to get on the end of an excellent Hibs counter-attack involving Lewis Stevenson and Scott Allan and won his team a corner.

Throughout the evening, McGinn looked completely unfazed by the size of the challenge Hibs’ defence were facing, particularly in the second half when Rangers started to go through the gears and put the visitors under real pressure.

His arrival and promising early impact has come at a good time for Hibs because right-back was in danger of becoming a problem position. With club captain David Gray unable to enjoy any sustained fitness in the last couple of seasons, there is clearly a requirement for a dependable operator in this position.

While Tom James has been unable to do enough to nail down the position, Jason Naismith looked like he’d solved the problem when he became a mainstay through November and December. However, the on-loan Peterborough United defender’s season-ending knee injury in the first game back after the winter break - the Scottish Cup draw away to Dundee United - left Hibs looking vulnerable in this area once more.

While Gray has recovered from injury, he still clearly needs game time to get back up to speed, as evidenced by his first-half struggles against St Mirren on Saturday. The captain has shown several times before that he can bounce back to form after being written off, but until he gets back to a level where he is happy with his form and fitness levels, there is a clear opportunity for the hitherto impressive McGinn to make the position of Hibs right-back his own.

If he can achieve this, it should also help settle down a Hibs defence which has been hindered by inconsistency of selection. While Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson have been regulars on the left side, the right-back and right-centre-back areas have been prone to changing on a regular basis this season, resulting in a defence which has shipped too many goals. The defence, with McGinn and Jackson forming the right half of the back four, looked assured and solid for much of a testing night at Ibrox. If the presence of the new right-back can help reduce the goals-against count in the weeks ahead, then the famous “we’ve got McGinn” chant will soon be ringing round Easter Road once more.