Being hooked at half time in the Edinburgh derby last month could have left Will Fish floundering at Hibs.
The Manchester United loanee was thrown in at the deep end for his first start in a 3-0 defeat at the home of their arch rivals and was caught at the opening goal after just eight minutes. Credit to the teenage defender though, there was no drowning in self pity after that rocky 45 minutes against Hearts and he quickly won his place back in Lee Johnson’s side.
Now, after starring in the last three outings which have brought seven points from nine, Fish has proved he is far from out of his depth in the Premiership. The England U19 international has replaced Ryan Porteous and formed a watertight partnership with Paul Hanlon in the centre of defence as Hibs have sailed up the table into fifth position. Fish has turned that turbulent start into a positive by claiming it’s strengthened his character - and insists it’s exactly why he chose the Scottish Premiership over the lower leagues in England to continue his development.
He said: “It was tough at the time and I think we were going through a tough spell as a team but it shows you how quickly football can change. You need to stick with it and there is always another game to put it right.
“Every player, especially at a young age, is going to experience something like that. It can’t be all plain sailing. Not in a good way but I’m glad it happened to me when it did.”
Fish is set to start a fourth successive game against Kilmarnock this afternoon and is being rewarded for his patience after spending the first three months of his loan deal watching from the sidelines. He said: “It was always set in my head to stay until the end of the season because where would I go? League One, League Two?
“I don’t think I would get a club like Hibs so I was always happy even when game time wasn’t coming around as Porto, Paul and Rocky Bushiri were playing well. You have to earn your chance and when it comes you have to take it.
“Everyone is at different levels in their career and different pathways but for me I thought Scottish football was perfect in terms of the physicality, a big league. It’s a lot of pressure on this club to get European football so I don’t have any faults about coming here.”
The 19-year-old previously revealed how United technical director Darren Fletcher helped sell him on the move to Leith. And the former Scotland skipper retains a keen interest in his progress at Easter Road.
Fish said: “He’s a top guy and he’s got a good footballing brain so he gives some good advice and it’s nice to get that from someone who has experienced it at the very top level. He knows the game very well.
“I have regular contact with a few guys there so it’s been handy. After every game United get all my individual clips and they’ll review that and give me a phone call and go through them. I can’t fault anything for that.”
Replacing a local hero like Porteous was never going to be easy. But Fish is right up for the challenge. Two clean sheets and just one goal conceded in the last three outings, not to mention his goal at the other end in the 6-0 thrashing of Aberdeen, have helped ease the pressure.
He said: “Porto was one of the mains characters of the team and whilst I’ve been here he’s performed great weekly. It’s a bit of pressure but something I think I can handle.
“He is a top player and I hope I can take some stuff from him into my game. The style of football he played was fairly similar to myself. He was a good role model.”
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