I ONLY TOOK A MOW TO SAY THAT I'D STAY

STEPHEN GLASS last night revealed it took him two minutes to agree a new contract with the boss who has changed the face of Scottish football.

The midfielder has signed a two-year deal with Hibs, ending fears he would quit the club on a free transfer in the summer.

The former Aberdeen and Newcastle star says he had no hesitation in agreeing terms with Tony Mowbray because he is keen to finish what the manager has started at Easter Road.

The news is a boost ahead of tomorrow's derby crunch against Hearts. Glass said: "The manager asked if I wanted to sign for a couple of years and I told him I was happy to stay. In total, it took two minutes to agree.

"The manager has always been good with me. We don't bulls**t each other and once the offer was made I wasn't about to hesitate or try to squeeze and extra couple of hundred quid out the deal.

"I wanted to stay with Hibs and I'd already spoken to my wife and family and agreed we'd remain here if an offer was made.

"There was no reason to look elsewhere and I didn't even need to bring my agent up for talks. It was the easiest contract I've ever signed."

Mowbray said: "We've signed up several young players and it's important we also sign players such as Stephen who can add their know-how on and off the park.

"Stephen's performance levels warranted the offer of a new contract and if everyone is fit there is going to be strong competition for places in our midfield next season."

Glass admits he hopes to play a pivotal role in the development of a Hibs team Mowbray reckons will be ready to mature fully next season.

The 29-year-old also enjoys playing for a manager he reckons many would have happily seen fall on his face when he arrived at the club almost two years ago.

Glass added: "We were a struggling team in the bottom six when the manager arrived here and there was talk we'd continue to struggle because he was a young boss.

"In fact, people probably wanted to see him fail because he has strong ideas about the way he wants to play the game. We've played good football and got decent results and now the punters are coming back.

"I'm happy at this club. I like the group of lads and the manager and there's no reason to look elsewhere.

"I want to be part of anything good that happens at Hibs and will happily accept the responsibility that comes with being a more senior pro.

"If the punters were ever to give out stick I'd rather take it than see it handed out to the younger lads."

Glass admits Hibs are desperate to make amends tomorrow for their Scottish Cup semi-final drubbing against their arch rivals.

He said: "The semi-final wasn't a good day for us but this is an opportunity for us to get a win and push ourselves up to where we want to be in the league.

"We've had a couple of games to deal with since that defeat and this is a chance for us to win against a team going very well at the moment.

"We have to focus on positives. There is no point dwelling on negatives or games we haven't done well in.

"We've done well against Hearts in games at Easter Road and if we play as we can we've shown we're capable of beating teams such as Celtic, Rangers

Taken from the Daily Record