Jordan Smith signed new Hibernian deal after ‘most enjoyable' time of his career

Hibernian goalkeeper Jordan Smith was delighted to lay down roots for himself and his family by signing a three-year contract extension.

The 30-year-old arrived in Edinburgh off the back of a season as an understudy at Stockport after leaving Nottingham Forest.

Smith had to be patient, with a Premier Sports Cup tie at Kelty Hearts his only appearance before getting into the team for the visit of Aberdeen on November 26 when Hibs were bottom of the William Hill Premiership.

Hibs have not looked back since and Smith has only experienced two defeats in 19 games since then, both of them at Celtic Park, including Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat.

“I’ve spoken before about this being the most enjoyable part of my career and that has been a massive part of it,” Smith said.

“So it was a no-brainer. As soon as they approached me, it was a very easy one, let’s get it over the line.”

Smith came through the youth ranks at Forest and made more than 50 appearances but ultimately had to move on to get a chance to become an established starter.

“It kind of felt a little bit like a last-chance saloon in the summer,” he said.

“When a club of this stature came calling, I thought, right, this is a real opportunity. I’ve got to give this absolutely everything because if it didn’t work out then I would never have forgiven myself.

“So, the fact that it’s gone the way it has, I’m obviously delighted. I probably couldn’t have imagined it going this well.

“So, really happy to put roots down. This is probably the first time in my career when my son and daughter are going to remember daddy playing on the pitch, which is really nice.

“People probably don’t talk about that an awful lot. So, it’s nice when I get the chance because I speak about family with pride, absolutely.

“To come up here and work hard at my craft and have that backing is just so nice, to be honest with you.

“That makes my life quite easy. My wife Charlotte looks after the kids while I get to go and work, so to speak.

“We’ve got a son, Luca, and a daughter, Brielle. Luca will be three in May and my daughter turned one just at the end of February.”

As well as benefiting from family life off the pitch, Smith feels the closeness of the squad and the fans is helping on it.

The 7,000 travelling fans gave their team a warm ovation after their 15-game unbeaten run came to an end at Celtic Park and Smith is determined to repay their support as Hibs look to consolidate third place in the league.

“The applause that we got off the pitch at the end was fantastic, and that probably shows the affinity between the players, this current squad and the fans and what we’re giving each other at the minute,” he said.

“It’s as much their journey as it is ours. We’re just more than happy to represent them.

“I probably wasn’t expecting that reaction really coming off the pitch, so the fact that they gave us that, they’re with us all the way and they give us a reason to give them something to get excited about, to cheer about, to cling on to that little bit of hope that we can finish this season off really strongly.”