Get to Know: Kieran Hughes

Life at the Caledonian Braves has been a whirlwind experience for goalkeeper Kieran Hughes so far - and it's only been two games.

Signed on loan from Cumnock Juniors the night before the Braves travelled to face table-toppers East Kilbride, the stopper was put straight into action for that game and was unlucky to concede four goals - including one after only 40 seconds of play - in a 4-1 defeat.

On his second outing he had a relatively quiet afternoon as the Braves beat Cumbernauld Colts 1-0 at Broadwood Stadium. The keeper was alert when called into action however, on one of those bitterly cold afternoons when a clean sheet is never a formality regardless of the flow of the game.

The 26-year-old has a CV that includes time in the youth academies of Queen's Park and St Mirren, the former being where he met Braves gaffer Ricky Waddell. He made the first team squad twice while the Buddies were in the Scottish Premiership.

"I worked with Ricky when I was about 14-15 at Queen's Park, and I got on with him then," said Hughes. "He gave us a wee call a couple of weeks back to ask if I would be interested and I thought 'I enjoyed playing under Ricky, so why not give it a go?'"

Albion Rovers bought the young keeper in 2015 for £23,000, and after three years spent mostly on the bench in Coatbridge he moved on to Clyde, where he made in senior debut against Motherwell in the League Cup in July 2018. Most recently he has made stops in Kilbirnie and Cumnock on the Junior circuit.

Cumnock opted to sit season 2020-21 out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but their players could choose if they wanted to play elsewhere for the year. 

Hughes said: "We found out in the middle of summer that the club weren't going to continue and they were going to pull out. You can't really go against that in the circumstances, it's their decision, but I wanted to continue playing and decided I didn't want to take a year out, your career is already short enough as it is.

"The fact you were looking at maybe not playing until next June or July, that just wasn't an option for me. So thankfully Caley have given us the opportunity to play for the rest of the year and I can't thank them enough."

Before signing at Alliance Park, Hughes had been inactive for a couple of months due to Cumnock pulling out of the West of Scotland Football League. On returning to match action he said "it was good to get back in amongst it for a change and the boys made me feel welcome."

Despite the warmth with which he has been received, Hughes did say that first match against East Kilbride was a difficult one, given he barely knew the squad.

He said: "You're going into the game not knowing anybody, not knowing the back four which is one of the worst things that can happen. We got off to the worst start conceding a goal in the first minute but I think we came back into the game after that and we lost a couple of unlucky goals.

"But those games will happen against teams with that quality, so I won't get myself down about that too much."

Since joining the Braves Hughes has settled in well with the other goalkeepers in the squad and has been enjoying the training sessions so far.

He said: "We've got the goalies union! Yohann and Alex have made me feel really welcome. The training has been brilliant so far."