Aberdeen boss reveals plans for Hibs bound Jamie McGrath in Scottish Premiership run in

Jamie McGrath will join David Gray's Hibs next season after agreeing a pre-contract deal (Pic: SNS) | SNS Group

Hibs bound midfielder Jamie McGrath featured for Aberdeen in their 2-1 extra time Scottish Cup semi final win over Hearts at Hampden Park this weekend.

The Irishman has been out with an injury since January and agreed a pre-contract move to Easter Road next season during his time on the shelf. He now finds himself charged with helping the Dons secure third place ahead of David Gray’s men before completing his move to Edinburgh.

It puts the former Wigan Athletic man, who has 13 caps for the Republic of Ireland men’s team, in a difficult position for the next five matches with the first coming against his future employers at Pittodrie next weekend. However, Aberdeen head coach Jimmy Thelin isn’t worried about the 28-year old’s mindset ahead of the run in.

What Aberdeen boss Jimmy Thelin said about Hibs bound Jamie McGrath after Scottish Cup semi final

Speaking after his side’s 2-1 win over Hearts in extra time at Hampden Park, the Swedish coach confirmed he had no issues playing McGrath in the remaining matches he has as an Aberdeen player. It could well be the case that he has the opportunity to impact Hibs’ European prospects for next season but Thelin is confident of his professionalism in the scenario.

He said: “He has shown today that his whole heart and focus is here. He's still an Aberdeen player and you see at training at Cormack Park there is no doubt where his focus is and he's ready to play for us.”

McGrath came off the bench in the 69th minute of the Scottish Cup semi final with the two sides locked at 1-1 after Craig Gordon’s own goal was cancelled out by a Lawrence Shankland striker. Despite being down to ten men for the entire second half the Jambos were able to take the match to extra time but it all became too much for them when they were reduced to nine in extra time and Palestinian striker Odday Dabbagh netted the winning goal in the 188th minute.

When will Jamie McGrath join Hibs?

McGrath will see out the remainder of his contract at Pittodrie and will move to Hibs once that has concluded at the end of next month. He will officially become a Hibs player in the summer.

It looks like, based on Thelin’s comments, that Hibs fans could very well see their future star lining up against them in their next match. That crucial encounter in the race for third place comes at Pittodrie where a win for David Gray’s men would solidify them as favourites to finish best of the rest behind Celtic and Rangers.

However, finishing third might not be enough to guarantee them league pahase European football next season. Indeed, if St Johnstone beat Celtic in the second Scottish Cup semi final on Sunday that would mean third place would secure a Europa League second round qualifying place with the play-off place (and guaranteed League phase football either in the Europa League or Europa Conference League) going to the Scottish Cup winners.

Your next Hibs read: How Hibs aim to use free weekend in sprint for third place and European qualification