Haber Grabs His Chance To Impress

Last updated : 28 November 2011 By Ed_Scottishfitba

stjohnstoneMarcus Haber hopes he can prove to St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas he deserves a run in the first team after opening his account for the season. Haber was on hand to be one of the scorers in the 3-1 win over Hibs on Saturday. The Canadian striker was thrown into the action after just 10 minutes at McDiarmid Park after Cillian Sheridan limped off injured. Haber took advantage of his opportunity by grabbing his first goal of the campaign, with Francisco Sandaza and Dave Mackay adding to Hibs' misery after Richie Towell had opened the scoring for the Edinburgh side. He has high hopes that he can make an impact after spending a long time on the sidelines last season with a cruciate injury.
 
Haber said: "It's just about getting games and finding confidence in myself and taking my chances when they come and hopefully I do all right for the team. It's tough when you don't play for a while. I was out with an injury for seven months and it takes a little bit of time to come back. I did my cruciate around this time last season and I only played 14 or 15 games and that was the end. It was unfortunate but this season it's just my goal to stay healthy and work hard and be patient. If now is the time that I get to play more minutes then I'm happy. I'm just trying to stay focused."
 
New Hibs manager Pat Fenlon saw at first hand just what sort of mountain he has to climb and the quality of the equipment he has available. He was in the McDairmid Park directors' box watching the game with Billy Brown still in charge for the game in the dugout. The Easter Road side remain in ninth spot with just three SPL wins this season and winger Ivan Sproule admits they simply have not been good enough.
 
He said: "It's a bitter pill to swallow when you lose any game but with the run we've been on, it would have been nice to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. It doesn't seem to be appearing yet. It's been the story of the season so far for us and we can't hide from it. That's why we are down near the bottom of the league and that's where we deserve to be at this moment in time."
 
Sproule believes there is potential for the new manager to work with but believes Fenlon faces a big task in transforming Hibs' fortunes. He went on: "From what he saw in the first half, there is a group of players there that he can make something out of. But what he saw in the second half probably showed him that he's got a job on his hands here. There is always potential. Hibs are a massive club and Hibs fans deserve better. I've said that all along but we need to get it right on the park. If we keep making mistakes that we're doing at the minute, we're not giving ourselves a chance. It is a difficult time. In life and in football you will come across difficult times, it's how you deal with those difficult periods and how you react to them. It's a test of our character and the new manager will see which characters he'd like to keep and I'm sure there will be characters he wants to push on."