Hibs fitness update as extra precautions taken with Ryan Porteous

Christian Doidge could bounce back for Hibs against St Johnstone on Tuesday night – if there is no adverse reaction to his ankle injury.

Jamie Gullan (R) and Christian Doidge took part in Hibs training on November 23 (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The Welsh striker rolled his ankle in training on Friday, forcing Jack Ross into a late re-shuffle ahead of the 2-2 draw with Celtic at Easter Road.

Enough to rule him out of action 24 hours later, after a few days rest the freak twist had settled enough to allow Doidge to participate in Monday’s pre-match training session at East Mains and he’ll be in the squad assuming there is no lingering damage.

While a quick turnaround for Doidge is welcome news for Jack Ross, the Hibs boss will be forced to wait a little longer on Lewis Stevenson and Kyle Magennis – while also carefully monitoring Ryan Porteous after his return from Scotland under-21 duty. A Covid-19 outbreak among the national squad ruled several Premiership players out of domestic action at the weekend – but after contact tracing was carried out Porteous was given a late reprieve to play against Celtic.

Ross explained: “We tested again on Saturday pre-game and all the test results were negative. He’ll continue to fall into the same testing circle as we’re in at the moment.

“We’re taking some extra precautions with him as well, in terms of how he is around the training ground, etc, but it’s all good so far, touch wood.”

Stevenson is in line for a return to training on Thursday with Kyle Magennis expected to return shortly afterwards. Scott Allan remains absent.

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