Hibs duo remain sidelined for trip to Motherwell

Anthony Stokes and Danny Swanson have ankle and knee injuries respectively

The attacking duo missed the 1-0 victory against Hearts on Tuesday through injury and are not expected to be recovered in time for this weekend’s match at Fir Park. Both players are hopeful of returning to contention for Tuesday night’s visit to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock.

Stokes, with eight goals to his name this season, sustained an ankle knock during last Saturday’s Betfred Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic. Simon Murray, the Irishman’s replacement in the starting line-up on Tuesday, scored the winning goal against Hearts and is likely to keep his place for the clash with a third-place Motherwell side who have won eight of their last ten games, including each of their last four. Swanson, an unused substitute at Hampden last weekend, suffered a knee injury in training in the build-up to the Edinburgh derby.

Darren McGregor, who had spoken earlier this month of potentially returning from a knee injury lay-off in time to face Hearts, is unlikely to be fit enough to be restored to the squad. Fellow centre-back Liam Fontaine also remains on the sidelines.

• Two goals from Jamie Gullan took Hibs through to the fourth round of the SFA Youth Cup with a 2-1 win over East Kilbride at Easter Road.

Gullan opened the scoring on 26 minutes with a curling, 25-yard free-kick.

The visitors levelled a minute before the break though Jay McInally but Gullan clinched the win for Hibs just before the hour mark, scoring following a goalmouth scramble.