Josh Campbell has opened up on his difficult start to the season and admits he was underperforming because he was trying too hard.
Campbell is a diehard Hibee who rose through the academy at East Mains before breaking into the first-team as a teenager in 2019.
He’s been a regular for Hibs since the 2021/22 campaign and played 27 times last season for the club, scoring five goals.
And the current campaign had started well for him as Campbell notched four assists in the four Premier Sports Cup group stage games he played in.
But it’s been a different story in the Premiership. Campbell has played 11 league games but only five have been starts, as manager David Gray dropped him out of two matchday squads.
In fact, for more than a month between October and November, Campbell was nowhere to be seen for Hibs as they struggled to pick up results.
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Josh Campbell on underperforming for Hibs
Speaking now about being left out, Campbell admits he was underperforming and struggled to deal with caring too much for his club, so much so that his displays on the park were being undermined.
He said: “It’s been tough. I’ve not spoken about it, although the manager has touched on it a wee bit. I’ve not spoken about it.
“It’s been a bit difficult for me. I’ve underperformed. And it was hard for me to deal with underperforming because I cared too much.
“When I was struggling, the gaffer was giving me little tips. Like sometimes it’s better not to care as much and your performances won’t get affected. My performances were getting affected. It sounds so easy.
“But I could feel at the time that my performances weren’t right. I’m 24 now, I’ve played enough games in this league and for this team to know what’s good and what’s not.
“The manager put a lot of trust in me at the start of the season and I didn’t repay that trust because I underperformed, and I understand why I wasn’t playing.”
Campbell ‘feeling better now’
But Campbell is gaining minutes again and is feeling more confident. And his return has coincided with an improvement in form for Hibs.
The midfielder scored in the convincing 3-0 win over Motherwell recently and he now feels part of Gray’s plans again.
He said: “I’m still not starting right now but I’m getting a bit more confidence back especially when I came on and scored against Motherwell. That did me a world of good.
“Aye, that was some celebration to go with the goal. That one meant a lot to me. I normally get a couple of goals, and I’d not had any this season so that was the first for me.
“Then the manager put me on as his first sub against Celtic when it was needed. So I’m feeling better now.”