Hibs' Fraser Fyvie winning fitness face for League Cup final

Hibs midfielder Fraser Fyvie is winning his race against time to be fit for the League Cup final in a fortnight, boss Alan Stubbs revealed today.
Fraser Fyvie has a knee injuryFraser Fyvie has a knee injury
Fraser Fyvie has a knee injury

But there is no chance of the 22-year-old being ready for the Scottish Cup quarter-final against Inverness Caley a week earlier, a game which Easter Road trio Paul Hanlon, Marvin Bartley and Jason Cummings will all miss through suspension.

Fyvie suffered a knee injury in the closing minutes of Hibs’ victory over Morton at Cappielow at the beginning of the month, a scan subsequently revealed slight medial ligament damage which immediately raised concerns as to his availability for the Hampden showdown against Ross County.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, Stubbs has disclosed the former Aberdeen and Wigan player could be back training next weekend, so putting himself in line for a return in the final, although he’s been ruled out of today’s Championship game at Dumbarton, Tuesday night’s match with Queen of the South and the visit of Caley.

The head coach said: “Fraser is on schedule as regards his scan and the length of time the injury would take. We are hopeful he will resume training the week before the cup final, and that was always the plan.

“He is doing very well and from that point of view he will be just ahead of schedule, or right on schedule. We expect him to be either training Monday the week of the final or even next Saturday or Sunday.”

Admitting it would have been ideal to have Fyvie back next weekend when he will be confronted by those suspensions, Stubbs said: “It would have been, but it would also have been ideal had he not got the injury in the first place, but it happened.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It was an innocuous challenge, it was more of a block that just opened his knee up a little bit and at the end of the day we are probably more thankful it was not more serious.”

Although Farid El Alagui made a surprise appearance as a substitute against Morton, Stubbs insisted the striker still needs more game time before he can be considered as being fully back. He is seeking full fitness after an 18-month battle with injury which began with him rupturing his achilles tendon.

Stubbs said: “It’s been a long haul for him. He had a really bad injury then a little setback with his calf. It has taken a bit of time and he still needs games, Under-20s or behind closed doors to get him to where he should be. If we can to that then we have another player in the mix for the run in.”

Another who could return for the season’s finale is midfielder Danny Handling who is only a week or so away from returning to full training after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during pre-season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Stubbs said: “Danny has worked really hard and he is probably a week or ten days away from joining the first team which is great, first and foremost for Danny then for us. It will be a huge confidence booster for him when he resumes training full-time.”