Hibs ace in 'stress fracture' injury bulletin as on-loan Stoke City striker recovery timeline update provided
Easter Road side head into shut-down with SIX defenders on injured list
New details about the back injury plaguing Hibs No. 9 Nathan Lowe have been revealed, with Easter Road boss Marink Reedijk admitting that the on-loan Stoke City striker is suffering from a “stress fracture” that will have to be evaluated on a week-by-week basis. And the powerful target man isn’t expected to return immediately after the international break.
Reedijk, who said he did expect to see both left back Jordan Obita and on-loan Manchester United midfielder Jacob Devaney return in time to put themselves in consideration for Dundee United at home on Saturday week, is resigned to being without 21-year-old Lowe for an indefinite period, explaining: “Nathan has a stress fracture. And it takes week by week. We have to evaluate and make sure that he doesn't come in too soon.
Players returning soon
“This will take some extra weeks as well. So Nathan is not after the international break directly.
“It's more Jacob Devaney and Jordan Obita, who we count on to be back for the next training sessions in the international break.”
Despite scoring just twice for Hibs since signing in the summer, confident youngster Lowe has been a useful foil at the top end of the park. In his absence, Owen Elding is having to play out of position by leading the line, with Thibault Klidje – who came off the bench to score in Saturday’s thrashing of Aberdeen – the only other out-and-out striker in the squad.
The lack of another target man in the team even forced Reedijk to deploy Scotland centre-half Grant Hanley as an emergency striker late in the recent 2-1 home loss to Celtic. Although young American striker Colton Swan is due to arrive next month, it’s likely that Hibs will be looking for reinforcement up front during the January window.
Manchester United youngster on comeback trail
The Dutch coach admits he’s looking forward, meanwhile, to having a proper look at Devaney. The 19-year-old enjoyed a brilliant Hibs debut in a win over Dundee at Dens Park, but suffered a sudden fall-off in form before picking up a red card in defeat across the road at Tannadice – and injuring himself in the process.
Reedijk said: “This is the difficulty for me because I've seen Jacob for two training sessions and five minutes on the pitch in Dundee. And after that, I haven't seen him and worked with him.
“So the only thing I can see is videos. But I never want to judge a player on videos only. I want to have worked with them, have a feeling with them on the pitch, off the pitch.
“Off the pitch, I have an idea of who he is as a person. But now I also want to see how he brings this to the pitch. And this I cannot judge on yet.”
Hibs head into the international break with eight first-team contenders officially on the injured list – and six of those currently out are defenders. Alongside long-term absentee Rocky Bushiri, Hanley is out after thumb surgery and Obita is working his way back from a calf problem, while fullbacks Felix Passlack, Adam Mayor and Kanayo Megwa are out with hamstring issues.
Apart from worrying about putting a team on the park, Reedijk revealed that he’s been doing his best to spend time with the injured players in order to keep them feeling part of the group, saying: “We have lunch together, so then you see the guys. Sometimes if they come in and they walk past my office, I call them in.
“Like you guys know, I have the best coffee in the building. So then we're going to drink a coffee. Most often they don't like coffee, which is a shame.
“But then we speak about how things go. Have they seen the match? What do they think? How are they feeling? What are they in the process etc. I try to get, every week, a little chat with everyone.”