Miguel Chaiwa hopes Champions League experience will help him at Hibernian

Miguel Chaiwa believes his experience of playing in last season’s Champions League can help him thrive at Hibernian.

The 21-year-old midfielder made an eye-catching debut for the Hibees in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup win away to Livingston after joining earlier this month from Young Boys.

Zambia international Chaiwa featured as a substitute in the Swiss side’s Champions League play-off win over Galatasaray a year ago and then in their group-phase matches against Celtic and Red Star Belgrade in January.

“It has helped me a lot,” Chaiwa said. “We played good teams in the Champions League.

“I’ve got one or two experiences playing against top teams, so it was a really, really good platform for me.”

Chaiwa made his Hibs debut on the same day that another player recruited from the Swiss top flight marked his first start for David Gray’s side with a goal.

Thibault Klidje last month became the Edinburgh club’s record signing when he arrived from Luzern for a seven-figure transfer fee.

The Togolese forward was restricted to four substitute appearances prior to his maiden start on Sunday as Gray aims to break him into Scottish football gently, but Chaiwa expects his fellow African to make a big impact at Easter Road.

“We played against each other in Switzerland,” he said. “I knew him personally, he’s one of the good guys and has a little bit of shyness in him.

“But I know what he’s capable of doing. He’s energetic. He can run, he can jump, even though he’s short. But he’s willing to give everything.

“I think he will do well at Hibs once he gets a run of games, absolutely.”

Chaiwa is delighted to have kicked off his Hibs career and is eager to play a part in Thursday’s Conference League play-off first leg at home to Legia Warsaw.

“I’m hoping to help the team and my team-mates like they did today,” he said. “I’m really, really excited to be involved.”