Christian Doidge hands Hibs major boost but duo are doubts for Rangers game

Hibs could welcome Christian Doidge back into the first team fray a couple of months ahead of schedule.

Hibs striker Christian Doidge is set to return from injury ahead of schedule. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

The Hibs striker, who is sidelined with a damaged Achilles, and midfielder Melker Hallberg, who dislocated his kneecap, have both been long-term absentees and early appraisals suggested they could be out until December/January.

But manager Jack Ross has reported that both players are progressing well and could make their way back into the first team set-up as early as November.

“Both are probably looking at a similar timeframe. We are hopeful they will be back in full training by the beginning of November, which is way in advance of what we anticipated, certainly with Christian, who we thought might be out until the end of the year.

“Obviously things can change but if they continue on the path they are on at the moment they should be back on the training pitch with us in November, which is not too far away. And with the international breaks there won’t be too many games before we get them back close.”

Ross takes his team to Ibrox this weekend and admits that both Josh Doig and Kyle Magennis are doubts but he has seen both Kevin Nisbet and Martin Boyle shake off niggles and train well this week, while Jake Doyle-Hayes has bounced back from illness.

“Losing Josh and Kyle would potentially be a blow but having Martin and Kevin back in training and Jake training properly as well means we have some players who’ll be fitter and in a better place than they were for the fixtures last week.”

Jamie Murphy also has a shot at featuring against his former side after recovering from the latest hamstring injury, which he picked up at the end of August.

“We’ll see how he is towards Sunday, it might be too early for him,” admitted the Hibs gaffer. “But he’s trained really well, so we’ll now see how he is physically and see how he responds to the load, which has been quite big, and we’ll go from there.

“I’m delighted to see him back on the training pitch. He has looked in exactly the same place he was on the pitch when he suffered the injury, he was playing well. He has looked sharp and bright.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.