Exclusive: Hibs star's injury latest as gaffer delivers Scotland 'risk' assessment

Bowie in action against Malta last night - he lasted just over half an hour. | SNS Group

Hibs face an anxious wait for the results of a scan on star signing Kieron Bowie after the attacker’s international injury scare. But head coach David Gray insists he has no issues with Scotland Under-21 counterpart Scott Gemmill starting the forward in his European Championship qualifiers against Spain and Malta.

Having put in a ferocious shift against the Spaniards at Tynecastle in last Friday night’s 1-0 loss, playing 56 minutes before being relieved, Bowie was again given the nod to start against Malta away from home last night. But the former Fulham striker, a £600,000 summer signing yet to make a start for Hibs as he works his way back from a serious hamstring injury, pulled up late in the first half of a comfortable 5-0 win for the visitors.

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Gray revealed this afternoon that he was still waiting for a definitive diagnosis of the problem, explaining: “Obviously he came off after 30 or 35 minutes with a tight hamstring, didn’t play on, just came off straight away. He didn’t arrive back until today so the earliest we could get a scan was first thing tomorrow morning. They might be able to squeeze him in tonight. But either way we’ll have to wait for the result of the scan to find out exactly what it is.

“Because he’s had a hamstring injury previously, we need to be very cautious with that. We need to get all the information before we decide what happens next.”

Bowie has only made substitute appearances for Hibs since joining the club in early August, with Gray giving his new goal threat short run-outs – nothing more than 30 minutes – to build himself up. But, asked if he’d had any concerns about his player being thrown straight into the front line by Gemmill, the Hibs gaffer said: “The next step for him was to start a game. And we did have dialogue with Scotland on that, about what to do, what the best thing was to do. Listen, until we know the results, we won’t know more.

“He started the Spain game at Tynecastle, played 55 minutes or so, and I was there to watch him. It was a long day for him chasing the ball, doing a lot of running about.

“Spain were very good, as you’d expect. They kept the ball well, kept Scotland moving about.

“He had moments. And it was a good run out for him, good to get the minutes into him because, as I say, it was the next stage in his progression, to go and get a competitive game.

“We had brought him on a couple of times as a sub. So it was the right thing to do for him. That was the next big stage for him.

“We’ll see once we get the handover from Scotland, look at what he’s done throughout the week, how he’s felt, all these things, we can look into it a little bit further.”

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Asked if he might be wary of risking Bowie against St Johnstone this weekend, just in case, Gray said: “Until we know the situation, it’s very hard to judge. Best case scenario, it could be a touch of cramp or something. We don’t know.

“We’re being ultra cautious because of the injury he had previously. That’s only natural. But until we know, we can’t plan at all.

“I’ve been very consistent with all the players we’ve brought in. The temptation is always there to push them on and put them into games, get them ready quicker – because they’re good players and we need to do that.

“But you have to do it as safely as possible. We’ll never take risks with any players, to be honest.”