THE last time Grant Brebner played at Easter Road was in the defeat by Dundee United two years ago, which sealed Hibernian's

relegation to the first division.

The 21-year-old returned to the scene of his greatest footballing disappointment yesterday in much different circumstances, when he was paraded as the latest and most important long-term signing in Alex McLeish's reign at Easter Road.

McLeish has put great faith in Brebner who has signed on a five-year contract for a fee believed to be around #400,000 from Reading, where he played under Tommy Burns.

However, his signing is likely to signal the start of players

leaving Easter Road with McLeish admitting that his squad was ''a bit top heavy'' at present.

Brebner, born in Edinburgh and who really is a Hibs supp-orter, spent three months at Easter Road on loan from Manchester United two seasons ago as McLeish tried unsuccessfully to stop the club being relegated.

At the time, the Hibs manager was so keen to sign the player that he drove to his house late at night to try and convince him to put pen to paper on a long-term contract after he heard on the grapevine that Reading had put in a bid to Manchester United for the player.

Despite McLeish's best efforts the lure of England, and the fact that Hibs had been relegated swayed Brebner's decision in favour of Reading.

Since then, McLeish has turned Hibs around, won them promotion and has received major backing from the Easter Road board which released the money for the signing of Brebner. During the same period the player has spent a season at Reading, where he played 46 games scoring 12 goals, secured the captaincy of the Scotland Under-21 team, and matured greatly as a player.

The fact that Reading did not gain promotion to the first division last season was a major factor in Brebner's decision to leave the club, where he was only one year into a three-year contract.

Yesterday, McLeish said he was putting a long-term plan in place and the midfielder was a major part of that, and it is clear he sees the player as the man to build the team around in the future.

Despite the undoubted potential of Brebner, his appearance at Easter Road yesterday came as a surprise as many would think Hibs are well-served in the midfield area at present.

However, it is clear that although the Hibs midfield have been the most effective unit of the team so far this season, players like Franck Sauzee, Russel Latapy, and Pat McGinlay are on the wrong side of 30 and Brebner will be the man to ease the transition from their era to the next.

Although he goes straight into the squad for the game against St Johnstone on Saturday, the player is under no illusions that a place in the starting line-up is not guaranteed straight away.

The move to bring Brebner to Hibs had been a well-kept secret and discussions between player and club began on Monday, with the player being brought up to Edinburgh late on Wednesday evening for his medical before he signed.

Brebner said the ambitions of the club had enticed him back and hoped the Hibs supporters would accept his reasons for turning his back on the club when they first tried to sign him.

At that time, Brebner felt his ambitions to make a name for himself would be best served in England, but now he felt a good season at Easter Road could be used as a springboard for him to make it into the full Scotland squad.

McLeish said he was delighted to have finally secured the signature of the player whom he said ''escaped our clutches first time round.''

McLeish said: ''We have a lot of experienced players at the club already, but Grant can come in and give us dynamism in that area and also give us continuity in terms of the midfield in the

coming years.

''He's young, which is a major positive, and he can learn by playing beside players like Sauzee and Latapy. It is true our midfield has been performing well and we are quite strong in that department so we will have major competition in there.''

Brebner described his return to Hibs as ''a sort of homecoming" and he was looking forward to the challenge of playing in the premier league.

''Things didn't quite work out as I planned at Reading in that we didn't get promotion, but I feel I matured as a player during my year there,'' said Brebner. ''It was the ambition of Hibs which persuaded me to come back to Easter Road, although I realise I will have to fight for my place in the team.''