Harry McKirdy hailed as Hibs goal threat as Adam Owen reveals serving sniper pep talk

Hibs welcomed their mystery sniper into the building yesterday - and assistant boss Adam Owen hopes the marksman can help get their Easter Road hitmen firing under pressure.

The serving sharpshooter - whose identity was being kept secret by club officials - was brought in by Lee Johnson to give his players a motivational pep talk. And while the manager himself remains 50/50 to make a return from surgery for Saturday’s trip to face Dundee United, his number two Owen reckons the appearance of the rifleman will ensure there’s no slacking.

Owen said: “It was a bit different! The manager is always trying to get players thinking in different ways and challenging them.It was really good in terms of showing the different sorts of pressures - similar pressures to some extent, although life and death is a little bit different. But there were some really good examples of dealing with pressure, stress, anxiety.

“It's just good to get the players thinking in a different way about their own actions and how they deal with different situations and even desires and motivations to be better."

New Easter Road striker Harry McKirdy will be hoping the session can fire him up to open his account. The colourful frontman arrived on deadline day from Swindon and made an instant impression.

Owen just hopes his shooting is as sharp as his clobber. He said: “Harry’s dress sense has cheered up the changing room! He has integrated really well and the lads have taken to him.

“Everybody’s different. A squad is built up of many different characters and that’s what makes a club. If everyone was the same there would be a load of robots walking round.

“Harry missed a bit of training when he signed because he had a couple of late nights with the transfer