When Marvin Ekpiteta arrived at Hibernian in the summer after four years at Blackpool, with fans' praise ringing in his ears, supporters of the Scottish Premiership side were eager to see the towering centre-back in action - particularly in a new central defensive partnership with another English Football League acquisition in Warren O'Hora under new head coach David Gray.

The initial signs were good - the pair linked up well in pre-season matches in front of fellow new recruit Josef Bursik in goals and continued that form in the group stages of the Premier Sports Cup. 

But things seemed to fall apart once the league games got underway, and the defence collectively seemed to struggle against St Mirren and then in the back-to-back games against Celtic and fears grew that despite undergoing big change in the summer, the defence would remain an issue.

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Despite a shaky start to life in Scotland, Ekpiteta and his rearguard colleagues have recovered to put in decent performances in the 2-0 victory over St Johnstone and, despite the result, the 1-0 defeat by Rangers.

The 29-year-old attributes that turnaround in part to Gray, and in part to a 'big wake-up call' that came from playing the reigning champions twice in quick succession. 

"I didn't think it would be as big a change, and I had to adapt quite a bit. But I feel like I've grown into it after the first couple of games. I'm really enjoying it now," he says, when asked how he would assess his first couple of months in Scottish football.

"A lot of the teams don't give you any time at all, man. They're just on it for the whole game. I'd say that's the biggest change from last season. And obviously playing against Celtic, they're just a different level. I didn't realise how good they were until I played against them. That was a big wake-up call, I'd say.  I think it was actually good playing them so early to get that out of the way, and then you can build on playing against other teams.

"The first Celtic game was a big shock, and then playing them again away the next week, you go into the game thinking, 'Yeah, we could get something here' and then they just score so quickly and they're just out of nowhere. So that was a big shock, those two games. It's good to get them both done and out the way early and then look forward to the other games."

Ekpiteta is bullish about his less-than-ideal start to the season and has since recovered to earn plaudits and over the course of the last few results, the Hibs defence has clearly tightened up in terms of the goals-against column. But in order to shake off that 'teething' spell, the centre-back had to draw on previous experience as well as a word in his ear from a surprising source.

"It was a bit of both; just sort of stripping it back all the way and going back to what I do best. I have a good family around me, good support systems and especially the manager as well. He pulled me and said to me that he has confidence in me, he knows what I can do and just to get back to doing what I do and what he knows I can do and that really helped me massively," he explains. 

"It was massive because I've never actually had a manager that has done that with me in this situation before. He definitely gave me extra confidence saying that he knows I can do it, and that he believes in me. And I just want to repay him for still having faith in me and still playing me."

Like many of his colleagues and his manager, Ekpiteta believes Hibs can take confidence from their first league win, and the performance against Rangers, even if the result didn't go their way.

"We played really well. I feel like we should have definitely got something from the game. It's nice to build off that and we beat St Johnstone before that, so it would be nice to back up a good performance last week and get something [against Motherwell]. It's a big opportunity for us really to get three points. We had a decent game against Dundee, we should have won that, we should have seen that game out, but then we beat St Johnstone. So we're definitely confident going into this game," he states. 

Ekpiteta is certainly striking up a good working relationship with O'Hora, the pair performing well at Ibrox in front of Bursik, who completes the trio.

"That relationship is definitely growing and getting better and better. I guess between me and Warren and with Joe, we're all learning what each of us is good at, what we're not so good at, what we need more help with in certain areas," he explains.

"It's definitely improving, and as you can see, the results have been picking up and performances have been picking up as well. We sit right next to each other in the dressing room so we always bounce off each other, share different ideas, and keep learning together and growing together.

"I like to give Warren the ball and tell him to do all the fancy stuff, all the pretty stuff. And I'll do all the dirty work," he laughs. 

"Even just sitting next to each other in the changing room, that definitely helps. Just talking about other stuff, not just football, life in general, helps; especially since all three of us have moved up from down south together. And that just brings us closer."

In-form Motherwell will be another stern test for Ekpiteta and his defensive colleagues. But it's a challenge for which he feels ready. 

"I think any player at any level, any age, starting the season like we did does shake you a bit. But you've just got to look at the bigger picture, really, and look at where you want to go. Once you get over that hurdle, you're fine."