Hibs injury boost amid Scotland selection debate over Grant Hanley and Josh Mulligan as new boss names squad
Rocky Bushiri set comeback target as defensive crisis eases
Grant Hanley is back in training for Hibs and aiming to prove his fitness to new Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli. And Easter Road boss David Gray says international hopeful Josh Mulligan is “back to his best” just in time for the national team gaffer’s first squad.
World Cup warrior Hanley has recovered from a hip injury sustained in the recent loss to St Johnstone, the central defender sitting out the weekend win over Ross County as Hibs booked their place in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals. With Jordan Obita and Rocky Bushiri both out, the veteran defensive leader’s return would be a major boost for Hibs – regardless of whether he features when Pocognoli names his group for the upcoming Nations League fixtures tomorrow.
Hanley recovery timetable outlined
Gray, providing an update on a lengthy injury list ahead of tomorrow night’s visit of Kilmarnock, said: "I spoke straight after the game about trying to make sure nobody fell out of that squad at the weekend, going up to Ross County, and nobody has. There are a lot of bumps and bruises, as you'd expect, but everybody who was involved at the weekend trained on Monday.
"Owen Elding was basically an emergency because of how light we were in certain areas, and the fact I didn't use him is another positive, because he's now trained twice with the group, and is in a much better, safer place to go for more significant minutes if required, rather than just a wee five-minute, ten-minute cameo at the end. Martin Boyle was another one who was fresh from not playing.
"When you look at the subs I put on towards the end of the game, you'll notice they're defensive ones, just to make sure, because we're so light defensively. Alex (Williams) and Nicky (Cadden) got some more minutes, in case they might be required, because we're so thin defensively.
"Everybody got through the game and added to that, Grant Hanley trained this morning, so that's a big bonus. We'll have to see how he is but I'd expect him to be available for the squad.
"We'll just see exactly how he recovers from training, but he came through it with no immediate concerns which is pleasing, because it'll certainly help us in defence.
“When you see him go down, especially somebody like Grant, when he stays down, you know there's something up. And I immediately always go towards knees and things like that because he has had a history with his knee. But it wasn't the case.
“It was just a contact. And where the contact was on his hip, it just immobilised him on that side. And then the amount of swelling, to try and get that shifted, because it's in quite an innocuous area, it took a bit of time.
“But he’s been on the pitch the last couple of days and trained today. So certainly by the time we get to Saturday, Sunday, I expect him to be completely over the injury. As long as he's no reaction to today.
“I even think that tomorrow, he's going to improve every day with the type of injury that it is. It's just an inflammation thing that's recovering every day. So that's positive for him.”
New signing still missing in action
New signing Marko Ivezic is still missing with what Gray describes as “a bit of virus”, the Serbian yet to feature for Hibs since his arrival late in the summer window. The manager said: "He's not going to be available for Tuesday, but depending on how that game goes, in terms of players coming through it and availability, there is still the potential for him to be available for Saturday.
"But at the same time, if everybody comes through it, it's probably one where we're trying to build up, rather than throw in at the deep end, just because of how he's reacted at this stage, and that's very much something that we're managing to do.”
Providing the latest on Democratic Republic of Congo centre-half Bushiri, who saw his World Cup dream shattered by an Achille’s tendon injury in the final game of last season, Gray revealed: “He's doing really well, and we're hoping to have him back before the new year, if possible, which would be great. I don't want to put a timeframe on that for him because it might be slightly slower, but at least it's not as if we're too far away.”
Mulligan earned a first call-up, but not a cap, as he stormed through his first season with Hibs before injury curbed his progress. Having started the current campaign well, he’s making a case for inclusion in Pocognoli’s group for games against Slovenia, Switzerland and North Macedonia.
Gray said: “Josh is someone who obviously was doing incredibly well before he got his setback and his injury. A lot of people said a lot of really positive things about him, rightly so for his level of performance.
“And in this season, you can see him growing game by game. I think that's starting to come as well because he benefited from the pre-season.
“But even within that, Josh is very much a game player. Someone that the more games he can get in, the more confidence he gets within himself.
“And you're starting to see that ability and physicality to drive away from people. So early on in the season, he probably was getting caught still, whereas now he's starting to look back to his best and back to himself again.
“Which is great for him even mentally because once you've had a longer-term injury and things are going so well for you and you get a setback, there's always that wee doubt of: ‘Am I still going to be able to do the things I can do?’ And he certainly can.
“He's improving and developing all the time. But if you ask Josh, his answer will be the same as what mine is now, which is he just needs to keep working hard and keep improving because there's a lot more to come out of him.”