Kevin Dabrowski reveals what he told Hibs ace Elias Melkersen prior to Scottish Cup heroics

The Polish stopper has seen in very close quarters the exciting blend of talent and determination which courses through Melkersen since the Norwegian teenager signed for Hibs in January from Bodo/Glimt.

The club’s support got their first taste of that in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup as the 19-year-old striker repaid the faith given to him by manager Shaun Maloney, who opted for the fresh-faced hitman over seasoned veteran Christian Doidge. He struck twice in a highly expressive first half performance, which was enough to carry the away side to a 2-1 win against the ten men.

Melkersen has had to be patient with his full debut coming over two months after initially joining on January 5 for a six-figure fee. Dabrowski, who himself knows all about waiting for a chance at Easter Road, was able to keep his friend calm and focused before offering some last-minute words of encouragement ahead of Sunday’s game.

"I'm not surprised at all. He's such a good professional who knows what he wants to be. He wants to be a top player. He's very talented and his mindset is very good,” the goalkeeper told the Evening News.

“He stays with me so I look after him and I was happy to slightly contribute to his full debut by having a wee pep talk with him. He was frustrated at the beginning because he wanted to play straight away and that wasn't the case. But I spoke to him many times and said 'listen, I've been here five years and I've been waiting for my moment for almost that long so your time will come'.

“I was sure that he'd be a smash so I tried to take him for extra training whenever I could. I know best as a goalkeeper how he can hit the ball; he can really finish.

“When he found out he was going to start against Motherwell I