Hibs forward Kieron Bowie says he had to insist he was ready for a first league start in ten months despite hesitation from club staff after his long injury lay-off.

“I was speaking to the gaffer a few weeks ago and he was asking me, psychologically was I ready?”, said Bowie “I was like, definitely! I’m ready for my chance and take to try and cement my place in the team”.

Bowie endured a four month wait to come back from a hamstring injury suffered whilst playing for the Scotland U21 side, having only just returned from a spell on the sidelines that saw him miss the majority of his first pre-season since signing for a reported £600k from Fulham.

However both manager David Gray and himself will be more than pleased with the gamble paying off, as Bowie received a standing ovation to cap off a remarkable win.

“I think it’s been a long time coming and usually I’m getting that ovation coming back onto the pitch,” he said before joking “It was good to come off, my legs were gone”.

Although you would have struggled to notice as Bowie made his 64 minutes feel like a lifetime for “the two best defenders in the league” in Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty, according the Hibs man.

“To know that I can go up against them is really good and it gives me a lot of confidence.” Bowie said after getting enough of their shirts to come away with a memento, walking into the room with a Carter-Vickers strip in hand.

“I don’t know if he wanted my shirt but I got his anyway,” he laughed “I thought I should get somebody’s shirt and I went to the kit man and asked but he said ‘you need to give me yours’, I’m not sure Pedro (the Hibs kitman) was happy!”

A big scalp in more ways than one given that taking home the three points was no guarantee after the early goal from Josh Campbell.

“You’ve seen the last couple of times we’ve played Celtic,” he told the media “we conceded so early and obviously it was the opposite way around this time and you think ‘oh no we’ve poked the bear!’ – but we managed to maintain the pressure and get another goal before half-time.”

With victory under their belt, Bowie said the message from the manager was to “cement their place in the top six”. A task that looks far easier given the five point cushion they have on Ross County in seventh.

Looking ahead, the Scot is eager to continue the Scottish Cup run with another game against Celtic coming in just a few weeks.

“We went into the Cup thinking this is a possibility, we can win this and now we’ve shown what we can do against that opposition and hopefully do that again.”