Hibs captain raises concerns over fixture schedule - 'it needs to be looked at'

The Easter Road skipper was speaking in the wake of the 1-1 draw with Hearts on Saturday. Hibs needed three points to leapfrog their rivals into the fourth but despite Hearts having Alex Cochrane sent off after half an hour, the visitors were unable to make their man-advantage count as Hearts held on, after Kevin Nisbet’s free kick had cancelled out Yutaro Oda’s opener.

Hibs played Rangers last Sunday at home before hosting Celtic in midweek, three days before making the short hop across town to face Hearts. But Marshall voiced his concern at being asked to play three hugely important fixtures in such a short space of time – especially in the wake of serious injuries to CJ Egan-Riley against Rangers, who faces up to four months sidelined with a hamstring injury, and Chris Cadden and Jake Doyle-Hayes against Hearts, who suffered a suspected ruptured Achilles and a dislocated shoulder respectively.

“I don't think we should be playing three games in six days in the last week,” Marshall said. “We very rarely do that in the season. Down south, it's normal to play Friday-Monday at Easter time, and start the league with three games in six days.

David Marshall has raised concerns at the congested fixture list

"I think it's something that needs to be looked at. There are too many breaks as well; you stop for the quarter-finals [of the Scottish Cup], you stop for the semi-finals. It's difficult to play the most important three games of your season in six days.”