Republic of Ireland international hopeful opens up on fitness, form and finding feet in Scottish Premiership
Hibs goal scoring sensation Owen Elding has revealed how his dream of following boyhood heroes Liverpool on a grand European adventure is inspiring his flying start to life in Scottish football. And the young striker admits that he’s been fired up by watching videos of his new club’s Europa League and Conference League dramatics from this season.
Elding bagged his third goal in just five starts for Hibs as the Easter Road side secured a vital home victory over Kilmarnock on Saturday, the former Sligo Rovers star netting inside the opening 15 seconds. With Motherwell losing 3-2 at home to Falkirk, David Gray’s side are now just three points behind the Steelmen in the race for European football.
Only finishing fourth in the Scottish Premiership will deliver the guarantee of a place in the early rounds of UEFA competition. The team finishing fifth could still get in via a lucky losers’ spot – if Celtic go onto win the Scottish Cup at Hampden on May 23.
Elding, who knocked back offers to become a development player in more than one English Premier League club as he chose Hibs for his first big career move in January, is excited just talking about the possibility of playing on even the furthest fringes of UEFA competition, declaring: “It would mean everything, yeah. As a young boy, you dream of playing in European competitions.
“So look, we're another step closer. Six games to go. We can only control what we can control. And that's picking up points when we play games.
Liverpool fan raised on Champions League history
“I’ve been watching European football all my life. I’m a Liverpool fan, so it’s a bit of a struggle at the moment!
“But obviously I grew up watching everything they’ve done in Europe. So it would be a dream to play European football.
“Whatever stage that is, qualifiers, group stage, you know. Yeah, so hopefully we can catch Motherwell.”
Hibs enjoyed own recent Euro adventures
Revealing how he’d boned up on his new team-mates’ adventures against Midtjylland, Partizan Belgrade and Legia Warsaw before arriving in Edinburgh during the mid-season window, Elding explained: “I mean, I did a bit of research before coming here, watching Hibs in Europe from this season.
“I looked at highlights on YouTube and it looked unbelievable. So yeah, it'd be great to get the European football back here again, get a chance to experience some of that for myself.
“That's the plan every week, to go and catch Motherwell. We referenced it before, that we can only control what we can control.
“Obvious, against Kilmarnock we got another three points, Motherwell losing. So that's another step closer to catching them.”
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With Hibs heading north to face crisis-strewn Aberdeen on Saturday, while Motherwell take on league leaders Hearts at Tynecastle, last weekend’s results take on an extra importance. A three-point swing, courtesy of that 3-0 home win over Kilmarnock, gave Hibs – now on a six-game unbeaten run in the league – some real momentum heading into the final pre-split fixture.
Hibs have been helped by having a majority of their half-dozen January signings settle so quickly, with all three goals on Saturday coming from new boys. Elding, who was involved in the build-up for Felix Passlack’s goal, was pleased to see the German wingback and super sub Ante Suto carry on their own scoring streaks.
“It was great for the new players all to score,” said the Republic of Ireland international hopeful. “Obviously Ante is flying. He’s got a habit of coming off the bench and scoring.
“Felix getting in at that back post again. We've worked on that a lot. And then myself.
“But yeah, just taking it game by game. And hopefully just trying to take the chances we get.”
Injury constraints restricted game time
Elding had struggled in the previous home game, a 0-0 draw with Livingston, before injury restricted his involvement to a substitute appearance in goalless draw with Motherwell. He admitted: “Considering the last home game, it was a bit flat against Livi, but yeah, we really came out of the traps quick against Killie and thankfully we got a really quick goal.
“I just had a bit of struggle with my back and glute a little bit, but yeah, that's all cleared up now. Obviously coming in, I hadn't played a competitive game since November, so I was still in pre-season.
“So yeah, it just took a few weeks to get used to the tempo of the game and build up that fitness again. But yeah, I think I'm fully fit now.
“I think there's a few different factors, a lot of things going on for me at the moment. Obviously, playing with a new group now, I think I'm getting to know a lot of the boys, how they play.
“I’m getting that link-up again with Felix (Passlack), who set me up for the goal. That's starting to come together. And I think I'm getting fitter every week.
“I even scored with my right foot against Kilmarnock, something you don't see very often! So yeah, there's a lot of factors to it.”
Revealing some minor disappointment that he didn’t also end the afternoon with another official stat against his name after playing the pass of the game to set Jordan Obita clear in the move that led to Passlack making it 2-0, Elding said: “I was disappointed Jordan didn't shoot and score so I would get an assist! I told him after the game that he should have shot and scored himself.
“But yeah, look, I'm thankful the team has scored. And the way that goal came about was something we’d worked on.
“The game plan was to find the pockets just in between the full-back and centre-back. That kind of gives them a problem of who goes in with me, who doesn't.
“I’m just trying to create space for myself and for other players around me. So, if I didn't get the ball, maybe someone else would - or I would create space for someone else.”
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