Exclusive update on bloodied Hibs assist king as specialist advice needed after messy facial injury

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Mask should protect confirmed fracture as wingback recovers

Hibs creative spark Nicky Cadden has been booked into see a specialist to treat the horrific looking nose break that left him bloodied and unable to continue in the weekend win over boyhood club Motherwell. And the wingback, who leads the team in assists and chances created, is likely to be fitted with a protective mask before returning to action.

Cadden, also second to livewire forward Martin Boyle in the scoring charts with seven goals to his name, despite missing an early chunk of the season, suffered the injury in an accidental collision inside the opening 20 minutes of an ultimately comfortable 3-1 win at Easter Road on Saturday. Gray confirmed that the 28-year-old had suffered a fracture requiring expert attention.

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Speaking earlier today, the gaffer admitted: “It's not ideal. He's having to go and see someone Thursday, like a specialist guy with his nose, because I think they have to get a certain mask and things like that. He’s broken his nose, aye.

“And we'll just find out once we see that exactly what needs to happen. Either he gets a mask straight away, or he might need to get it manipulated back into place and all these things.

Cadden leaves the pitch early in Saturday's win over Motherwell; he was unable to continue.Cadden leaves the pitch early in Saturday's win over Motherwell; he was unable to continue.
Cadden leaves the pitch early in Saturday's win over Motherwell; he was unable to continue. | SNS Group

“I don't think it's a huge drama. It's just a broken nose. But he'll probably have to wear a mask.

“Aye, but he can still play with that, I think. We'll have to wait and see what happens on Thursday as to whether he'll be available this weekend, but it should be fine.”

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Revealing that he’d feared the worst when he saw the extent of damage immediately after the incident, Gray said: “It just looked bad at the time. It looked worse than it did the next day. So I was expecting him to have bruising all round his eyes and stuff, but he actually wasn’t that bad the next day.”

Skipper, centre-half and attacker on injury list

Club captain Joe Newell is making steady recovery from a groin injury, with the midfielder aiming to be back in action by the end of the month. Central defender Marvin Ekpiteta isn’t expected to return from his thigh injury, meanwhile, until later in February.

French attacker Elie Youan continues to struggle with the toe injury picked up in the Boxing Day win over Hearts at Tynecastle, Gray admitting: “He's the one that's frustrating purely because it's like, he had the wee setback at the end of last week, but because of the setback, that's another week he's been out. He's not training, so then you start to decondition a bit, and it's still not quite right.

“And we don't want it to become like a chronic type toe issue. So if we can just let it settle down, it's taking longer than we'd hoped, but this could be one of the things that he gets up one day and it's absolutely fine.”

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Hibs face Clydebank in the Scottish Cup at Easter Road on Saturday, with the West of Scotland Premier League outfit – top of their division – providing a difficult scouting assignment for the Premiership side’s analysis department, Gray explaining: “We've done a lot of work to try and find a lot of their stuff. They're obviously flying in their league top of their league they'll come full of confidence; it's their cup final.

“To get Hibs in the cup, it's a dream draw for them. We just need to make sure we address it properly - which we will do.

“Ou full focus is getting into the next round, simple as that, so we do everything we possibly can to make sure we win the game. There's no thinking it's going to be an easy game.

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“We're guarding against complacency. My message to the players is all about mentality this week to make sure we keep doing things properly and keep building on that feelgood factor - but also maintain the momentum we're building.”

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