CJ joined the Hibees on loan from Burnley in the January transfer window this year and has slotted straight into Lee Johnson’s starting XI.
Speaking to Hibs TV, CJ told us how much he has been enjoying his start to life at Hibs and the variety of the Scottish league.
“I am loving it here, since I have come in I have really enjoyed the training and all the game-time I have been getting.
“One thing I am really enjoying is how different each game is, I have played against Ross County away, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Livingston and Rangers and they have all been totally different challenges. Now, we’ve got Celtic up next and that is another opportunity that I am looking forward to.”
A centre-back by trade, Egan-Riley has filled in centrally, at right-back and further forward in a central midfield role in his five starts for the Hibees this season.
“At the moment I am just enjoying playing wherever on the pitch. I feel comfortable playing in all those positions, they all bring different challenges and they help show my different qualities in a different way.
“To be honest, wherever the Gaffer wants me to play and wherever he thinks I can help the team the most – I am happy to play there.
“I do feel comfortable playing in midfield, I haven’t played there a lot before. It is obviously different to playing centre-back or full-back because you have to constantly look around and scan 360 around you.
“You need to be really switched on but the Gaffer has been great with me and has helped me with my body position with little tips here and there which has been really useful.”
Up next, Hibs travel to Celtic in the cinch Premiership – a fixture CJ is targeting as a good opportunity to right a few wrongs.
“Since I joined the Club, we have been going really well. The Rangers game was a blip, but it is important that we bounce back from it. It’s done now, we need to move on to the next one and take the learnings from it, we can’t be too disappointed.
“We know how tough it is going to be against Celtic. If we are sloppy then we know they will hurt us, but at the same time we have our own threats and we know we can hurt them.
"We need to be really switched on, our communication needs to be on point and we need to be technically on point.”
