Hibs confirm duo have suffered long-term injuries - but defender handed improved deal

Hibs have been dealt a hammer blow after it was confirmed that defenders Jason Naismith and Ryan Porteous are both facing long-term lay-offs.

On-loan Peterborough United right-back Naismith will be sidelined for around six months with knee ligament damage while centre-back Porteous will have to undergo knee surgery of his own but hopes to be able to play again towards the end of the season.

The two players were substituted in Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash with Dundee United at Tannadice and manager Jack Ross voiced concern about the extent of their injuries when he faced the media afterwards. The scans on the respective players have confirmed the club’s worst fears and Ross will now be forced into the transfer market to find defensive reinforcements, which is something he hadn’t envisaged doing prior to Sunday.

Naismith had started Hibs’ past 11 games and told the Evening News last week how proud he was to play for the club, but he won’t play again before the expiry of his loan deal in the summer. The 25-year-old has 18 months to run on his contract with Peterborough; it remains to be seen if Hibs will try to re-sign the former St Mirren and Ross County player in the summer.

“It’s bad news for Jason as he’d been doing well up there,” said Peterborough’s director of football Barry Fry yesterday. “He was reunited with a former manager who clearly rates him and there was an expectation they would sign him. Our primary concern is Jason’s recovery though.”

Porteous missed more than half of 2019 with a knee problem, but after starting to re-establish himself in the starting line-up in the closing months of last year, the 20-year-old is now braced for another significant lay-off.

The homegrown centre-back, who signed a five-year deal in 2018, can at least take some comfort from the fact the terms of his initial contract, which runs until 2023, have now been improved to reward him for his progress.