Pat Fenlon has revealed that on-form striker Leigh Griffiths is rated extremely doubtful for tomorrow’s clash with Inverness Caledonian Thistle with an ankle injury, joining captain James McPake (back), midfielder Gary Deegan (broken jaw) and defender Tim Clancy (groin) on the sidelines.
Fenlon told Hibs TV: “Leigh hasn’t done too much since Sunday to be honest, we’ll see how he is in the morning, but I’d say at this stage he is doubtful and again we won’t be taking a risk with him; if he’s not right he won’t play.
“He’s got a bit of a bump coming down from a challenge and got stood on as well as he’s on his way down, so there’s a little bit of swelling there and like I said we’ll assess him again tomorrow but at this stage I’d say he’s doubtful.
“Gary, James and Tim are all making progress, Gary has been back with the squad training and hopefully he’s going to play on Tuesday against Celtic in the under-20 game.
“So the plan is to maybe get him 60 or 65 minutes in that, then he should be able to come back into the squad for next week’s game.
“James is making progress as well; the plan is to bring him into training on Monday or Tuesday. Tim is a little bit slower; he’s probably a couple of weeks away from getting into full training, so they’re all making good progress.”
The former Bohs’ manager suffered more bad news with teenage defender Bradley Donaldson who has been a regular on the bench for the past handful of games ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Fenlon added: “Unfortunately Brad was the other centre-half we had a little bit of trouble with on Tuesday in the under-20 game against Dundee, so he’s going to be out for maybe two weeks as well, so again it needs a reshuffle.
“We don’t have a lot of defenders left at the moment, we’re running short, so we’ll see how people are come the weekend and we’ll pick a bench accordingly.”
Fenlon has had to juggle the back four, with versatile full back Alan Maybury taking fellow countryman Tim Clancy at right back, Northern Ireland international Ryan McGivern moving from left back to centre half and Lewis Stevenson slotting in at left back.
He continued: “It’s been very pleasing, it’s a great credit to the boys that have gone into the positions that have been vacated with James out and particularly in the back four, Lewis and Ryan.
“Ryan has gone in and played exceptionally well at centre-half and I think Lewis has been first-class at left-back for us. Like I said they are in the team at the moment and it’s up to them to stay in there.”
Fenlon is expecting a hard game in the Highlands against an on-form Inverness.
He added: “I think it will be as difficult, like I said in that game we played really well in the first-half, gave away a sloppy goal just before half-time and they played really well in the second-half.
“I think we are two evenly matched teams, I think our league position tells that there is very little between us and it’s a difficult venue.
“It’s always been a difficult venue for Hibs, but it is one I like going to, to be honest, we’re looking forward to it because when you’re winning football matches you want to keep playing in them and this is the next one after Sunday. We know we’re going into a real difficult place to get points.”
Photograph by http://www.jcmackintosh.co.uk
Irish News Review 