Tired but happy. Emboldened by the experience. And quite ready to transform this season of extremes into something truly memorable – with Scottish Cup glory very much on the agenda. To say that Kieron Bowie impacted on the Hibs starting XI with a bang would be something of an understatement. The Scotland Under-21 striker was outstanding in his first start since joining the club as a £600,000 signing from Fulham back in the summer, causing Celtic no end of problems in the 2-1 home win at Easter Road. So after “poking the bear” and surviving in this Scottish Premiership encounter, why shouldn’t Bowie and his team-mates harbour serious ambitions of a Celtic Park victory for the ages in the Cup quarter-final looming early next month? No reason at all, surely. “We’ve shown what is it, 13 games now unbeaten?” asked Bowie, the former Raith star adding: “So yeah, we've shown what we can do after a really tough start. “Obviously I was in the stand watching the lads for the majority of it. But yeah, it's becoming a really good season - and hopefully it can have a really good end to it as well. “We went into the Scottish Cup thinking this is a possibility, we can win this. And now obviously we've shown what we can do against that opposition, we can hopefully do that again.” Bowie was being eased back from a hamstring injury at the start of this season, being giving short shifts as a substitute for Hibs, when back to back starts for Scotland Under-21s resulted in him suffering a serious tear that required surgery. Having returned to the team as a substitute in recent weeks, he marked his comeback proper with a thunderous performance. Yet he admitted: “Just at the start of the game you just want to ease into the game, you don't want to do anything stupid. Obviously I've managed to play my part in the first goal, me and Nathan (Moriah-Welsh) coming into the team this week and it's good for both of us. “The message was just basically don't concede early. You've seen the last couple of times we've played Celtic away in the cup and at home at the start of the season, and we conceded so early. “It was the opposite way around this time - and you think: ‘Oh no, we've poked the bear.’ But we've managed to maintain the pressure and get another goal before half-time. “I feel physically knackered. Emotionally? It feels so good. I didn't know how it would feel. “I'm so happy, but I'm also sad because it's been 10 months since my last club start. It's been a long road, and this is what we’ve been working towards. “I'm glad to play my part against Celtic. To get an opportunity, not just to start, but an opportunity to win a game like this. “Yeah, it was almost a psychological thing, waiting so long. I spoke to the gaffer a few weeks ago and he was asking me, obviously physically I was ready to start, but psychologically, whether I was ready or not. I just said: ‘Definitely, I'm ready for my chance.’ Now I just need to take it and try and cement my place in the team.” Bowie was done in when he left the field, replaced by Mykola Kuharevich after a demanding 63-minute shift spent grappling with Cameron Carter-Vickers – the young Scot got the American’s jersey at full-time – and Auston Trusty. The standing ovation he got when his number went up meant a lot. “Yeah, I mean, I think it's been a long time coming - and usually I'm getting that ovation coming back onto the pitch, he said: “But yeah, it's good to come off to that -and my legs were gone, so yeah, it was good to come off. “I mean, obviously they're the two best defenders in the league, so to come up against them and put a bit of pressure on them is good. To know that I can go up against them on any given day is really good and it gives me a lot of confidence. “It felt good. I think it's different for them because they're used to dominating the ball. Obviously, they did against us, but when the ball came forward we were sort of just trying to get on them and not let them have any time. “It’s definitely days like this when you want to go out there and prove yourself and I feel like I've started to do that. All that's missing now is a goal. So yeah, we just need another few and then we'll be there. GET THE LATEST HIBS NEWS DIRECTLY TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX WITH OUR FREE NEWSLETTER SERVICE “The physical thing is part of my game, definitely. I like to think I can do a lot of technical stuff but then also I can put defenders under a bit of pressure and then the lads can play off me. “I got Carter-Vickers’ shirt. I don’t know if he wanted mine – but I was getting his! “I didn’t really make a beeline for him, I just thought I should get someone's shirt. I asked him and he said yeah but you need to give me yours. I'm not sure Pedro, our kit man, was happy but that's alright. I'm sure he'll be fine.” Your next Hibs read: Best photos from yesterday’s stunning win over Celtic