Hibs boss provides update on Rachael Boyle comeback date

Manager Dean Gibson has revealed that experienced midfielder Rachael Boyle is now only two to three weeks from returning to the pitch after recovering from her pregnancy.

The Scottish International, under contract until 2025, has been absent from the squad since the latter part of the 2021/22 season. Married to fellow Hibs winger Martin, they welcomed their second child last September as Sophia joined the family. After announcing she had begun her rehab at the club in October, Gibson now hopes that she will be back out on the pitch next month, which means she could feature in the Edinburgh derby against Hearts.

“She’s close, very close”, he told the Edinburgh Evening News. “We will start to see her on the pitch soon. I would like to think in the next two or three weeks we will see her back on the pitch. She will never play 90 minutes to start, but we have got to start building it up. We will build it up gradually and hopefully having a player back on the pitch of that quality will be a bonus for us.”

Also returning to the Hibs first-team this month is Lia Tweedie. The midfielder enjoyed a successful loan spell at SWPL2 side Queen’s Park in the first half of the campaign, helping them to consolidate themselves in the middle of the table. After returning to the Edinburgh side last week, she was on the bench against Spartans on Sunday and will provide another option for Gibson. A return to the team might come sooner rather than later for Tweedie after Shannon McGregor’s picked up a knock in training ahead of the defeat by Spartans on Sunday.

Rachael Boyle, who has 43 Scotland caps, is ready to return to the Hibs squad next month. Picture:: Ross MacDonald / SNS

“We agreed to send her to Queen’s Park until January and she is due to come back,” Gibson explained. “It's up to Tweedie now to go and get herself into the squad and into the starting 11. It's another option for us. She's got her own style which is maybe different to our other players. It's up to her to get herself into the team.

“McGregor had a little niggle on Saturday, but she trained ok so we knew it was a slight risk. But it won't be a long term absence, maybe a week or so and she will be fine.”