Cadden goes from 'slow start' to Hibs standout

Nicky Cadden is making up for lost time with his eye-catching form in Hibs' resurgence, says head coach David Gray.

The 28-year-old was named Premiership Player of the Month for December after helping Hibs go from bottom spot to just a point outside the top six prior to Saturday's visit from Motherwell.

After starting just twice up to late November, Cadden has been an ever-present at left wing-back in the past 10 games.

"Fully deserved," Gray said of Cadden's award. "I think his numbers back that up. He had a bit of a slow start because he joined us later and never really had a pre-season.

"When we first signed him, he had been unattached from the end of last season, so we had to be careful with him at the start and build up his minutes in a controlled way.

"He picked up a couple of injuries, which was a bit of a blow because he was just starting to hit that level but you can clearly see since he's come back into the team that he worked really hard during his rehab, and he's taken his opportunity.

"You can see how he's affecting games of football in a real positive way, which is great."

Gray is keen to continue Hibs momentum this weekend adding: "When you think back to how the season has gone up to this point, there was real adversity at the start. We had to stick together and keep working hard but there was still that belief.

"We're demonstrating now that if we can put it all together we're a really good side. There's a lot of football still to be played before the split and our challenge is to make sure we're in the top six and keep looking up the way."