Kieron Bowie's eyebrow-raising Hibs stat and his response to Scotland number nine question

Kieron Bowie seemed almost as delighted by the fact he finished the game, thereby completing his first 90 minutes for Hibs, as he was by the brace, his second for the club (and second versus Dundee).

With the first anniversary of him joining Hibs set to fall this Friday, he was asked afterwards when he had last played a full 90 minutes. Northampton, he replied, the club he was on loan at from Fulham for a couple of seasons.

Further investigation reveals that it seems to have been the penultimate game of the 2023-24 season in a home 2-1 loss to Exeter City. Quite some time ago, in other words. Injury has of course accounted for this eyebrow-raising statistic as has larger squads and more substitutes as well as increased knowledge of sports conditioning, with managers less inclined to play players into the ground.

Bowie sustained a hamstring injury while on Scotland Under-21 duty last Autumn. He did not reappear until January, when he helped his side revive their season and made his international debut for the senior side against Liechtenstein in June.

Given the latter development, it was important that he hit the ground running this season while demonstrating that he is in good enough physical condition to last an entire match, particularly having played 80 minutes of Hibs’ heartbreaking European defeat against Midtjylland last Thursday.

He was one of ten players asked to ‘go again’ by manager David Gray against Dundee, which some found surprising given the options on the bench. Bowie was delighted to be named in the first XI twice in such quick succession (he also started in the first leg) having found starts hard to come by last season, even when fit.

“If the manager wants to play me, obviously I'm going to play,” he said. “I'm not going to say, 'No, I don't want to play'. I played 90 today, which is my first 90 for the club, so I'm glad to be able to do that.”

Gray is not a cruel man. He was conscious that Bowie was gunning for a hat-trick and had been since shortly after the half hour mark of a game where Hibs looked to be toying with their much-changed, nervous looking hosts.

Bowie will rarely get a better chance to claim a first career treble and Gray’s decision to leave him on seemed to be in recognition of this, despite the prospect of another long evening against Partizan Belgrade on Thursday in a Conference League qualifier. Bowie appreciated the gesture. “I think it was to try to get my hat trick,” he said. “But I was happy enough with two in the end.”

This certainly seemed the case when, with time running out, Bowie was seen running with the ball into the corner to protect the one-goal lead when an attack might have been on. There will be other opportunities. “I scored six goals last season in a limited number of games, so I'm just trying to score as many as I can this season,” he said.

“Obviously, towards the end of the season I started a few more games, but it was nowhere near enough as I wanted. But I feel like now I'm fit enough and I'm strong enough that I can go out there week in, week out and play 90 minutes. That's definitely a big thing.”

He certainly proved this - and Steve Clarke should take note - on Sunday. The Scotland manager will have started to sift through names before naming his squad for the vital opening World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Belarus at the start of next month. Bowie remains hopeful, as he ought to be after breaking into the squad at the end of last season.

The 22-year-old is big and strong and knows where the goal is. He is just what Scotland need at this time although he will face tougher examinations than Dundee could present at the weekend. Even in training, that’s probably been the case. He revealed that he regularly quizzes Hibs centre halves about playing against No. 9s.

“I speak to the defenders that we have at the club, and they say what they don't like playing against,” Bowie reports. He wants to make himself as awkward as possible to play against.

A goal or two or maybe even that elusive hat trick in Belgrade later this week would reinforce what already looks like a good claim for inclusion in Clarke’s next squad.

“There's a few young lads there…James Wilson, Tommy Conway,” he said. “There's quite a few of us that are there that are all competing for a chance to play. Obviously, they've played a few more games than me, so I'm just trying to get my foot in the door.”