Lennart Mertens thought he was stuck in the Belgian lower leagues until Reedijk lead Beveran to an unstoppable promotion campaign

Lennart Mertens has Marink Reedijk to thank for making his top-flight dreams come true in Belgium.

And the big Beveren veteran is adamant the new Hibs boss is the man to end this season’s Easter Road nightmare too. There’s no bigger fan of the new Leith gaffer than his old Lions striker - and for good reason.

At the age of 32, Mertens had spent most of his time bobbing about the lower rungs of the Belgian league ladder when he got the chance to join Beveren in the second-tier. With the clock ticking on his career, the frontman feared he’d never realise his ambition of making it to the country’s Pro League, where he could take on the big guns like Club Brugge, Anderlecht and Union Saint-Gilloise.

But all that changed with Reedijk’s appointment as Beveren boss soon after. They spent their first season together working on the bold high-pressing Reedijk is now trying to implement in Edinburgh. And if it works half as well as it did for Beveren in Reedijk’s second season, Mertens is convinced his old gaffer will be a huge hit with Hibs.

The Leith support are praying it won’t take a full campaign to click after slumping to the foot of the Premiership table following back-to-back defeats in Reedijk’s first two games in charge. But Mertens was preaching patience as he pointed to his own impressive results under his mentor in an exclusive interview with Record Sport. The big target man recorded the best goalscoring figures of his career as he helped blast undefeated Beveren to a Challenge League title and promotion to the big time in Belgium.

He said: “Playing in the top flight here, let's say it was the only thing in my career I was missing. Had I given up on reaching that dream? Almost. I was like, ‘God, is this going to be my life, stuck in the lower levels.’ I was 32. I knew I didn’t have many years left but I was already thinking, 'This is going to be a shackle on my CV.'

"But last year it was very clear that we were heading for promotion and we sealed it so early in February. It was amazing. That was all down to Marink and the flow he created, the winning mentality. That was really something that defined us. He made a real group out of a team. For me as a striker, when I went to press, I already knew what my right winger was doing, what my No6 was doing. It was like a machine that worked perfectly.”

Reedijk’s attention to the tactical details will be vital in the weeks ahead. But just as important will be how he handles the motivational side as he seeks to haul a dressing room that has seen confidence levels crumble up off the floor. Saturday’s 2-1 loss at home to Falkirk was Hibs’ sixth defeat from nine in the league this season. But Mertens is certain his old coach has the mental side of the game covered too.

“Off the pitch Marink was so impressive,” he said. “Right now this season, I'm on the bench and I'm really mad about that. But with him, I could understand the reason when I wouldn’t start games. First of all, he asks you to his office, he explains the reasons why.

“He explains that maybe we need a striker with pace, maybe we need a big striker, maybe we need a winger with better action than the other one. But it was all very, very clear. When I joined the club, I realised right away Marink is a guy with a principles, but also a guy you can talk to.

“Sometimes I had difficulties at home but he knew that family is the most important thing. So he’d give you three days off to fix everything at home. He’d even call me on my day off to ask how he could help. So this was the kind of person Marink really is.”

And that personal touch produced results, with Mertens going on to fire 20 goals and seven assists in 30 appearances on the way to his side’s Invincibles promotion push.

“Last year was really crazy,” he grinned. “Even if I hit a shot towards the corner flag, it would go in! But then again, at the start of the season I was struggling to score. However, Marink kept believing in me because the style of play he had in his mind was coming together.

“I know Hibs are having a tough time right now but I would say give him a bit of time because what he wants to create is at team that wins. I saw a lot of the Scottish league last year because my friend Arne Engels was playing for Celtic. And I think Marink’s style can be really effective there.

“His way of playing is to put pressure high up the pitch because this is the shortest distance to the goal. And if they Hibs players can become really fit and get their counter press to a high level, it will make a big difference.

“That’s what we worked on last year and why we scored so much. I know that as a striker, I would die for Marink. I would press my ass off for 90 minutes. I'm not a guy who looks so much at statistics but the one number that tells you a lot about how effective you are as a team is the one about how many times you win the ball back after losing it. And at Beveren we were always at the top.

“I’d expect to see him implement that at Hibs and in the coming weeks I expect to see Hibs score again and again. But to do that, the physical ability has to go up. And maybe the way of pressing is going to change also. But I have confidence in what he's doing. There are fun times ahead for Hibs I think.”