A FAIRLY graphic photograph posted on his Twitter account yesterday was how James McPake chose to illustrate just how far he has come over the past 12 months.

The picture showed a nasty-looking scar at the base of his spine, the legacy of an operation undertaken last summer to fix three broken bones in his back.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger – one year ago today!" was how he captioned the shot, the Hibernian defender clearly a subscriber to the theory that it is always useful remembering the bad times when celebrating the good.

Those were dark days indeed for McPake as he wondered whether he would ever play again. "I really feared my career could be over, because it wasn't just week after week, it was month after month, and I wasn't feeling any better," he said last November.

At that point, he was still a member of the Coventry City first-team squad and looking to re-establish himself with the then Championship side after a lengthy convalescence. Little could he have imagined the twists and turns he would experience before the season was out, a loan move to Hibs at the end of January effectively reigniting his career. And how. For rarely has a player made such an impact at a struggling club in such a short space of time.

Pat Fenlon, the Easter Road manager, acknowledging the deficiencies in his squad, elected to make the 27-year-old his captain and McPake has responded to that responsibility, ensuring cult hero status after not much more than four months at the club. His leadership skills have helped inspire those around him, while his wholehearted performances have helped drag Hibs, eventually, away from relegation trouble.

The vociferous cheers that rang around Easter Road on Monday night, as he threw his body in front of numerous Dunfermline Athletic shots and thundered into tackles earning him the man-of-the-match award, told their own story. Hibs supporters have had little to cheer about in recent years, but here was a player whose commitment to the cause could not be questioned.

That appreciation of the one-time Livingston player could yet grow further still. McPake, nursing a slight groin injury, will likely be rested this weekend when Hibs conclude their Clydesdale Bank Premier League campaign away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle but will return to lead the side out at Hampden a week on Saturday for one of the most eagerly anticipated Scottish Cup finals in years.

There would be a certain irony if the first man to lift the famous old trophy for Hibs for 110 years turned out to be a loan player who had been at the club less than five months, but in a way it would also be fitting, given McPake's personal journey just to reach this stage.

"I've been at most of the games this season and he's been an absolute stalwart," was the view of Paul Kane, the former Hibernian player. "Some people would even say that he has single-handedly kept us up. That might be a wee bit unfair on the other players, but when you saw the reaction of the supporters on Monday night, that shows you that James has been well and truly taken into the hearts of the fans.

"He's got a never-say-die attitude, and that's just what Hibs needed. He has been so influential in such a short period of time."

Now the hope among Hibs followers is that McPake will become their player on a permanent basis. He is scheduled to return to Coventry, where he has a year left on his contract, after the cup-final, although Hibs' willingness to keep him at Easter Road and Coventry's plight, they have just been relegated to League One, could lead to a deal in the region of £100,000 being struck.

Kane worries, though, that any procrastination could prove costly. "Rod Petrie [the Hibs chairman] has admitted recently he's made mistakes and I think if he doesn't sign James McPake now, and give everybody a lift before the cup final, then that would be another glaring one," said Kane.

Excitement levels in the east of the country continue to rise the closer it gets to the all-Edinburgh cup-final, and Kane is no different in that regard. "I'm sorted for tickets, me and the family, so it should be a fantastic occasion.

"At the moment, the banter's flying about and everyone's happy as no team has won or lost. But come 3pm on cup-final day that will all stop and the nerves will be jangling. Afterwards there will be a party on one side of the city, and a horrible, horrible time for the other. Hopefully, it's the Hibs punters who will be celebrating."