Ben Kensell has say on how Hibs Covid-19 outbreak will affect international players

Hibs are hopeful that the Covid-19 outbreak that has swept the club won’t have an adverse effect on the Easter Road players called up for international duty later this month.
Kevin Nisbet should be fine to participate in international duty despite the Covid-19 situation at HibsKevin Nisbet should be fine to participate in international duty despite the Covid-19 situation at Hibs
Kevin Nisbet should be fine to participate in international duty despite the Covid-19 situation at Hibs

Four first-teamers – Martin Boyle, Josh Doig, Alex Gogic, and Kevin Nisbet – are due to join up with their countries over the international break but the scale of the coronavirus crisis that forced the postponement of the Capital club’s Scottish Premiership matches against Ross County and Livingston may mean an anxious wait for Hibs' globetrotting stars.

Boyle is due to play for the Socceroos away to China and at home to Saudi Arabia, while Doig and Scotland Under-21s are playing Kazakhstan and Belgium in Dundee on November 12 and 16 respectively.

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Gogic’s Cyprus have away fixtures against Russia and Slovenia while Nisbet has been included in the Scotland squad for the World Cup qualifiers in Moldova and at home to Denmark.

Hibs chief executive Ben Kensell, who addressed the media on Wednesday, pointed out that each case was different.

“The impact on Kevin will be minimal so we expect him to join up with the Scotland team and we wish him the very best with that.

“With Martin, it’s very much down to the period of time that he has to stay isolated for. We believe that’s being discussed currently with the Australian authorities.

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"With our other international players, it’s very much around what their governing bodies suggest in terms of timing of flying and things like that."

Kensell added: “Players don’t all have to join up at the same time; they can come one or two days later depending on their isolation period.”

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