A fans’ favourite before he’d even kicked a ball at Easter Road, Elias Melkersen has shot onto the scene in some style after long-awaited involvement in the first team.
Signed from Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt in the January window for a fee of around £400,000, Hibs fans have been desperate to see the striker in action with goals hard to come by in recent weeks.
With Shaun Maloney keen to give the 19-year-old time to adapt to the Scottish game and life in Edinburgh it has taken an unfortunate injury to Kevin Nisbet to force Melkersen into the reckoning – his debut coming off the bench in the 0-0 draw at Dens Park earlier this month.
Another substitute appearance in last weekend’s stalemate with St Johnstone at Easter Road came before Melkersen, now known as the ‘Ice Man’, made his first start at Fir Park yesterday afternoon.
It took the Norwegian just 15 minutes to find the net for the first time in green and white, with some smart movement and a nice header finishing off Sylvester Jasper’s cross to give Hibs the lead early in the first half.
20 minutes later the duo combined again, this time a long pinpoint ball from Jasper found Melkersen on the shoulder of the last defender and the youngster made no mistake with a deft touch and excellent left foot finish.
In Melkersen’s first two appearances he’s shown a willingness to work hard, defend from the front and offer movement which Kevin Nisbet has provided for large parts of the season. On Sunday he demonstrated a goalscoring ruthlessness that the side have been missing for months.
Nisbet, despite an obvious improvement in his work rate under Shaun Maloney, has struggled in front of goal throughout the campaign with just five league strikes to his name. His injury against Celtic looks set to keep him out for up to nine months and with important games coming thick and fast, Melkersen’s arrival couldn’t have come at a better time.
The loss of Martin Boyle in January was an obvious blow from an attacking perspective and with Christian Doidge out of form there is a huge hole in the team. Chris Mueller and Sylvester Jasper have provided cause for optimism from the wide areas but the team have continued to look laboured in the final third.
Elias Melkersen’s brace in Motherwell was anything but laboured and now he’s shown the support what he’s capable of he will get great backing for the remainder of the season if he continues to lead the line.
A player who on first glance looks like he is a more natural fit in the system Shaun Maloney is trying to play – with hard work, movement and the ability to link with midfielders and wide men – Melkersen has a bright future ahead of him.
Perhaps brought into the side earlier than planned, fans are delighted to see him involved and his reputation will sky rocket if he continues to bang in the goals and interact with the support in the ways he has done so this month.
At only 19-years-old it’s important to give him time to come in and out of form. In an ideal world Kevin Nisbet would be fit and continue to allow Melkersen to be slowly bedded into the side, but with Nisbet’s injury the Norwegian now has the chance to cement his place in the first team for the foreseeable future.
A couple of big goals at Hampden or post-split could give Melkersen hero status only a few months into his 4.5-year deal at Easter Road, with all of the excitement around his arrival paying off already.
With three young, hungry and creative players in forward areas for Hibs, things are starting to look up with a real threat in attack after long spells of inactivity.
It’s easy to get carried away but at a time when we’ve been crying out for some goals in the side it’s excellent to see someone so young stepping in and delivering when it matters.
On another positive note, the reintroduction of Matt Macey and Joe Newell to the starting XI with Chris Mueller back in the squad makes for better reading as we look ahead to a trip to Pittodrie before the international break.
Early news also suggests that Josh Doig’s injury following Bevis Mugabi’s red card challenge isn’t as bad as first feared which is a welcome boost as Doig continues to provide stability in defence.
The East Stand 