'Give it a rest' - Hibs could ask Aussies to go easy on weary talisman

Monty to make call on star man after Killie game

Boyle was back in training yesterday.

Hibs could ask the Socceroos to rest Martin Boyle over fears that the overworked forward risks aggravating his knee injury while on international duty.

Boyle is scheduled to jet off to Melbourne and then Kuwait for back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine immediately after tomorrow’s home game against Kilmarnock.

The Australia star limped out of last weekend’s Viaplay Cup semi-final loss to Aberdeen at Hampden.

Left on the bench as Hibs blew another lead to draw against St Mirren in Paisley on Wednesday night, Boyle is apparently “raring to go” for a Scottish Premiership fixture of huge importance, as the home side look to break a dismal seven-game winless streak.

But, asked if he had any concerns about his talismanic talent being dragged halfway round the world on international duty so soon after recovering from injury, Hibs boss Nick Montgomery said: “We’ll deal with that after the game.

“We’ll get through Saturday’s game and then deal with it. If we feel he’s good to go, then there are no problems.

“If we feel there are any issues then our medical staff will speak with the Australian medical staff.

“You can use international breaks to recover people - or they can go and play for their country. So we’ll deal with it post-game.”

Revealing that Boyle had first felt the problem after scoring his ‘goal’ – eventually disallowed by VAR after a lengthy check – against the Dons, Monty added: “He felt something in his knee against Aberdeen - probably from doing that knee-slide after he scored!

“That’s another double whammy; he does a knee-slide for what I felt was a perfectly good goal - and a great goal from Martin - and maybe he jarred his knee a little bit. So we can’t afford to take any risks.

“I might tell him to change his celebration - or maybe tell him to wait six minutes before he does a knee-slide…”