Hibs captain set to return for Scottish Premiership clash as boss gives Nicky Cadden update

However, the clash will likely come too soon for in-form Nicky Cadden, who came off during Hibs’ 2-0 Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat to Celtic.

The boss - who has turned around the Easter Road club’s fortunes and has the Easter Road side sitting third in the Scottish Premiership table - provided a positive update on the squad.

Currently, Hibs have 12 players out on international duty including the likes of Nectar Triantis, who received a maiden Australia call-up alongside Martin Boyle and Lewis Miller.

Joe Newell ready for Hibs return after frustrating start to 2025

Having last been invovled during Hibs’ 1-0 win over Kilmarnock at Easter Road in December - the 32-year-old midfielder will be hoping to stay injury-free for the final run in with the Premiership split on the horizon.

“He'll be available for St Johnstone,” Gray said of Newell. “He's been back running on the grass. I'm hoping he almost gets two weeks of training with the group. I don't want to rush him too much.”

Club captain Newell has only managed 16 top-flight appearances this term, and only five of those matches have been when Hibs gained three points.

Nicky Cadden raring to go but David Gray takes cautious approach

Former Barnsley ace Cadden, 28, has been one of the key men in Hibs’ revival - and Gray wants to make sure he is 100 per cent heading into the final run-in.

Cadden’s hamstring strain luckily wasn’t a bad one, and he is ramping up his recovery and rehab. But at swift St Johnstone return is probably off the cards.

“Nicky won't be ready for St Johnstone, I would doubt it,” Gray said. “Although if you ask Nicky, he'll be back tomorrow! That's the type of character he is. He's definitely one that you need to manage his expectations a little bit.

“But it's not a bad thing to have because he's so desperate to play all the time and he pushes himself all the time. You want that.”

Bounce game during international break to get players up to speed

The Easter Road manager also confirmed that a bounce game during the break will be a boost to the likes of Marvin Ekpiteta and Elie Youan.

Thanks to the form of the Hibs’ team, a number of players have had to settle for spot on the bench in recent times.

Gray explained: “There's boys that will benefit from a bit of intensive work because we've had a lot of games in a short period of time, so the level of training you get can be difficult.

“I think back to Marvin Ekpiteta, who needs a game. He's not really played. Some of the boys haven't played as much. A lot of the boys have been called up for international duty as well. Hopefully, they can go and get some minutes there. The biggest thing is you want them to come back safely, to be honest.

“We'll arrange a game as well during the international break to get minutes into boys who would need minutes, Elie Youan, big Marv.

“They're available still at the moment, but the more minutes you can get in them is certainly better than just trying to get on the training pitch because you can't really re-enact a game-type situation.”