Derek Riordan is by his own admission a very different player now from the one that first returning to Hibernian last year - and that has become particularly true since the arrival of John Hughes as manager. The mercurial striker is still of course all about scoring goals, and he will beat himself up no matter how well he plays if there has not been a goal to his credit in any particular game.

However the sight of Derek having to leave the field suffering from severe cramp is just one of the more obvious signs of the work-rate being put in by a player unfairly branded as 'lazy' by some. That said Derek coming off in such a manner did provide some ammunition for his team manager, who told Hibernian TV this week that it was a strange situation for Riordan to be in - not recognising what the cause of the pain was having never suffered from cramp before!

The striker however knows only too well that particular pain - although he admitted never to the degree suffered against Motherwell at the weekend: "On Saturday honestly I think that was the worst cramp I've had in my life! I tried to fix it myself by stretching it but it just would not go away - but I know what cramp is like alright, it's a horrible feeling and I just could not move. It was quite embarrassing but these things happen in football.

"I believe I'm working really hard at my game this season, I've always been branded as 'lazy' but I don't think that's ever been the case. Everyone is different in the way they play the game, you get people who will charge about the pitch and others who think about things and try and read the game. I will always admit that my defending is not the strongest part of my game but I do think I've improved since I came back from Celtic and have been getting better as time goes on."

The work-rate being produced by Derek has certainly been one aspect of his game this season that is doing so much to promote the results being produced by Hibernian. Derek however is full of praise for others putting in exactly the same levels of commitment to the team effort, and in one particular case in a highly unselfish manner: "The last time I worked quite that hard in a game I think was against Motherwell earlier in the season, and that was also a hard game for me. Their right-back kept pushing forward and I almost had to play as a left wing-back. It was hard work again on Saturday but it is all working out for the team and we are getting results.

"I love to score goals but I know there is a right time to have a go and I like to think that I do make the right choices when I'm in these situations. There are times you just need to hold the ball up rather than try and beat everyone. Colin Nish has done really well at that, he's come in the last couple of games and for me has been man of the match in these two games. He is not a selfish player and will set anyone up - it does not matter to him if he scores or not so long as we get the goals."

Riordan is firmly in the camp that believes there is so much more to come from Hibernian, the best of this side not yet having been seen: "We've been doing well - there have been games where we've not played our best but still taken points and it's always a good sign when that is happening. The good teams always seem to get the 'luck' - Celtic and Rangers have been doing that for years, where they have been rubbish the whole game but score the winner in the 95th minute! It's working for us just now where we are getting results and long may that continue."

Derek was talking to Hibernian TV, joining Chris Hogg this week on the Club's exclusive on-line service providing daily video updates from the Hibernian Training Centre and Easter Road.

Images by Alan Rennie for Hibernian TV - Alan's images from all Hibernian games are available via The Gallery.