By John Greechan

Copyright scotsman

Bringing composure to the chaos. If Hibs had posted a job description for the midfield vacancy they were looking to fill during the close season, that would have been a pretty fair summary of the role. Given the famously frenetic nature of the Scottish game, it’s a bit like expecting the successful candidate to impose order on one of those cheese-rolling contests that inspire loons to go scampering down a cliff face in pursuit of a rolling object. Not impossible, exactly. But certainly on the tricky side of difficult. In Dan Barlaser, have Hibs found a player equal to the task? We’ll soon find out. With just 35 minutes of SPFL action under his belt, the on-loan Middlesbrough midfielder has already impressed many with his positional nous, cool head and willingness to get on the ball. Thrown into an Easter Road debut with Hibs trailing 3-1 to Dundee United on Saturday evening, Barlaser helped his new team to a 3-3 draw in front of over 19,000 relieved home fans. And how he’s heading to Ibrox. Which is NOT a new venue for the 28-year-old, despite his limited exposure to Scottish football. Barlaser, looking ahead to this weekend’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Russell Martin’s embattled Rangers, points out that he was in the Boro side who drew 2-2 in Govan as recently as July. A pre-season friendly that saw the home side come back from two down to pinch a face-saving draw, but only AFTER Martin had been sent off for arguing with referee John Beaton, it offered a little hint on what to expect this weekend. At a time when some are portraying Hibs as favourites to apply a coup de grace on the struggling Martin and his slumping side, Barlaser simply isn’t buying the hype, pointing out: “Yeah, you can say they’ve had a rocky start. But it’s Rangers, isn’t it? “They’re always going to have a good team. And the fans will always be a part of it, regardless of what is going on. “I actually played at Ibrox in pre-season, a 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough. It was an intense game, even for pre-season. “Obviously it wasn’t a competitive game. But Boro had 8000 fans with us, so it was very good in terms of atmosphere. “It’ll be different going there in a cup tie, a really big game, a quarter-final. To have the chance to get into a semi-final is just massive, so we’ll all be fully focused on that.” While plenty of English players have spoken about the lure of facing Rangers and Celtic in Glasgow being a driving factor in their decision to head north, Barlaser is adamant that he barely gave it a second thought, saying: “Not really for me, no. It was to come and play games. “I’ve played in big stadiums in England so it doesn’t really fuss me about where I’m playing. It’s just about playing as many minutes as I can, really. “I mean, in terms of atmosphere, my first experience of Easter Road was very good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, good. “Very good with all the, what was it, the little banners and stuff the fans held up coming out, that was very good – and obviously the atmosphere was very good. What really impressed me was how the fans backed the lads until the very end, so it was good to at least get a point for them in the end.” GET THE LATEST HIBS NEWS DIRECTLY TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX WITH OUR FREE NEWSLETTER SERVICE One of three subs thrown on 10 minutes into the second half by David Gray on Saturday, joining Thibault Klidje and Junior Hoilett as bomb squad replacements tasked with turning the game around, Barlaser didn’t look fazed by the pace of the game – or the score on the board. Which is a promising sign. “It felt very good to get out there, a very good atmosphere,” he said, reflecting on a madcap evening kick-off. “Good that we got a point at the end after being 3-1 down. And yeah, so not bad. “Especially coming into a game like that, because it was quite end-to-end at the stage I came on, it can be tricky to adjust. But you’ve just got to go for it really. “That’s what I’ve been brought here for, to try and get the ball forward -and I think we could have probably nicked it in the end. But like I said before, we’ll take a point after being 3-1 down. “To be honest, I hadn’t heard loads about Scottish football from people, so I didn’t have a lot of preconceived ideas. I mean, I watch a lot of it. And a couple of my friends have played up here previously. “But I didn’t really ask anyone what it would be like, because I wanted to make my own judgement. And now I’ve had a first taste of how intense it is. “It was exactly what the lads here had prepared me for – and basically just like our training. Because training is Hibs is very intense – and you train like you play, so I know the game would be similar. “I wouldn’t say it was frustrating, I’d just say it was a bit end-to-end. So I think if we could have a little bit more control it would have been better. But like I said before, if you told us it was going to be 3-3 when I was coming on, I would have taken it however the game went.” Gray has spoken openly about Barlaser bringing command and discipline to midfield. Since former Sunderland loanee Nectar Triantis decided to explore options elsewhere in the summer, Hibs have been looking for a defensive-minded player with the ability to do more than just break up play and shell the ball towards the forwards. Asked if he felt equipped for the role, Barlaser said: “Definitely, yeah. I feel like I’ve got good experience obviously with the games I’ve played in England. “And I’ve kind of been at No. 6 the last three or four years. So I feel like it’s quite a good role for me. “Especially the way we play, the attacking threat we’ve got, I feel like to be solid behind the ball would help this year. That’s the job I’ve been given. “What do I want to get out of this loan? Play as many games as I can. I wouldn’t say anything else because you never know what the future holes. But yeah, play as many games as I can and help the team progress, really. That’s it.” Your next Hibs read: ‘Rangers spend millions’ reminder ahead of Cup clash