Top line summary

  • 'Remembers nothing' from concussion incident
  • Spent six days bedridden afterwards
  • Believes Hibs can still make top six

Are you feeling better after what happened?

“The head feels much better. It was obviously a difficult period, but the international break came at a good time, so I had time to recover. Obviously it wasn’t ideal what happened. In terms of the precautions, everyone did the right thing, got me into the best possible care, which was brilliant. It’s not nice having your family members rush down from the stands, you know? I like to put a scare into people! It wasn’t nice. Thankfully I’ve managed to recover."

What do you remember?

“Nothing. Nothing at all. I don’t remember anything about the game, it’s just a blur, and obviously I got home the same night. But I wasn’t in any condition to have conversations. I don’t remember going to hospital. I don’t remember. My wife was in the ambulance, I don’t really remember that. I kind of came round after the scans. But after that I was in bed for six days straight. I couldn’t cope with daylight, couldn’t look at my phone, it was kind of tough, I was feeling sick. Thankfully I came out the other side of it. There have been worse head knocks than mine. Thankfully everything was in place."

When you have those symptoms, is it a worry that they're going to continue for longer?

“Yeah, obviously that’s a concern. But the doctors were good, they talked me through the scans, the physio came and checked on me. So there was a lot of care. I took the medication when necessary and tried to rest as much as possible. That wasn’t easy with the kids running about! But everyone showed their support, which was nice."

READ MORE: Everything Nick Montgomery said after Hibs lose to Rangers

Was the worst thing just waiting for the symptoms to subside?

“Absolutely. And I still get little minor headaches. Nothing to worry about, because I’ve passed all my necessary checks. I did a SCAT5 test, memory thing every morning, which is part and parcel of it. And I’ve trained every day this week, been symptom free for five days, so the manager asked if I would be ready to play."

What are the tests like?

“It gives me a bigger headache, having to do a lot of remembering! But it’s just things like 10 words you have to remember, try to say it back, runs of numbers backwards, days of the week and months … it’s actually pretty simple.”

"We do it [the tests] at the start of every season, just in case a concussion does occur. Actually, after the concussion, I beat the score that I had pre-season. That doesn't make sense, so it's a bit of a funny story to come of it! But thankfully I'm in the clear.

Was that your first-ever concussion?

"I think I had one at Hamilton a couple of years ago. The goalkeeper smacked me in the back of the head. I was taken to hospital but it was nowhere near as severe as that one. These things happen, you've got to be brave."

What was the first day back in training like?

"It was good. I eased my way back into it, a little bit on the bike to see how I managed. With return to play, I'm kind of eager to play all the time, but they put on the brakes for a few days. So it was just building it up. Hopefully I can start preparing to start matches again."

Was it good to get on the pitch and off the leash?

"It was good. I love playing football. I've done it all my life and when you are injured and missing out, it's not ideal. You always have that buzz in your stomach. Obviously I wanted to come on and make an impact today, but it wasn't to be. I'll keep working hard and give the manager a headache for next week."

What was the feeling in the dressing-room after the defeat?

"It's never nice losing games. It's a tough venue to come to - they are top of the table for a reason. We got back into the game but lost sloppy goals, we know that ourselves. We'll have to identify the mistakes. It's kind of repetitive, we keep saying we are losing sloppy goals. We need to tighten up. We came here unbeaten in six so hopefully we can get a run again before the split.

Do you need to wins now?

"We'll go out to hopefully get them. Dundee are obviously in a strong position but it was our ambition at the start of the season to be near the top of that table. We all have to come together, look back at that game, stick together and we'll go again."

READ MORE: Hibs instant analysis - Good in patches, familiar failings

Does it simplify matters now - you just have to win and whatever happens, happens?

"We need to win the games, that's part and parcel of where we want to be. We can't be looking for other results. As long as win our games and look after ourselves, hopefully we can climb into the top six and have a strong end to the season."