Harry Clarke is praying Arsenal don’t activate a break clause in his 18-month Hibs loan - because he is desperate to help pick up the pieces of a broken season.
The Gunners defender signed an extended loan deal at Easter Road in January but had to wait until April to make his debut due to a hamstring injury.
Back-to-back Edinburgh derby defeats in his first three games saw Hibs miss out on the top six, dumped out the Scottish Cup in the semi final and cost manager Shaun Maloney his job.
To make matters worse Clarke has seen Ross County - where he had initially signed a season-long loan last summer - secure a top half finish and push for European football next season.
It’s the kind of start that could have had some cursing their luck.
But Clarke insists he has no regrets about making the switch from Dingwall to Leith.
And he is adamant he wants to stick around for another year to help make up for a wretched campaign.
Arsenal have break clauses in the loan agreement in the summer and next January and with no new manager in place at Hibs Clarke could be forgiven for being nervous over his future.
But he said: “As far as I’m concerned, I’m here till the end of next season. And I’m looking forward to that.
“There are break clauses but, as far as I’m concerned, I’m here for another 12 months.
“It’s just about coming to a bigger club, performing on a big platform at Easter Road, where there are more fans, and proving to people what I can do.
“It’s an amazing club, amazing staff and they make you feel at home.
“That’s important when you come on loan from a big club that you don’t feel isolated and the players here are amazing, it’s a good bunch of boys.
“In my first loan I went to Oldham which is still four hours away from home, Inverness is three days away! Edinburgh I’m slightly closer to home, I miss my family but that’s part of the job. I don’t mind being away.”
Asked if seeing the Staggies pushing for Europe was a source of frustration, Clarke continued: “Frustration? No.
“These things happen in football sometimes, you move away from a club, they do really well and maybe the club you go to don’t do as well as you would hope.
“I’ve played at Hampden, I’ve played in big Edinburgh derbies. I have not contributed with a trophy or top six but we have next year.
“It would be nice to be in the top six, we were really disappointed.”
Hibs will again be without crocked Chris Cadden against Dundee tonight and also Paul Hanlon who suffered a flare up of a knee injury in Saturday’s draw with Aberdeen.
Interim boss David Gray has challenged his players to win their last two matches against Dee and St Johnstone on Sunday to give themselves the best chance of finishing seventh.
And Clarke reckons momentum going into the summer is important.
The 21-year-old reckons Scottish football has been perfect for his development and admits he’s had his eyes opened by the quality of the game north of the border.
He said: “The quality up here is a lot better than people think down south.
“When I first came up here, I didn’t know much about Scottish football and I said that openly. Apart from the Rangers-Celtic games, you don’t really watch a lot.
“But the people I knew, my family and friends, they’ve all started to get into Scottish football. It’s a great league and more people should get involved.
“For us there’s not really been much change singe David took over. Everyone loves David.
“We are trying to put points on the board and finish the season strong.
“That’s been his message since he came in, just to finish the season strong and continue what we have been doing.”
