Hibs injury update ahead of Aston Villa clash after Dylan Vente is forced off late in Raith win

Hibs are hopeful of having Dylan Vente fit and available for the visit of Aston Villa on Wednesday night after the Dutch striker was forced off the pitch in the latter stages of the side’s 2-1 Viaplay Cup win against Raith Rovers.

The 24-year-old made an immediate impact when he came off the bench to replace Adam Le Fondre, restoring the hosts’ lead after Callum Smith had cancelled out Élie Youan’s 57th-minute opener by tucking away the Frenchman’s cutback.

But he took a sore one deep into injury time when visiting defender Liam Dick caught him in the face with a high boot, the former Roda JC frontman receiving treatment on the pitch before being helped off it with the Easter Road medical team unable to stem the flow of blood from his nose. The Rovers full-back received a red card from referee Nick Walsh for the challenge as both teams finished the game with ten men on the park.

Speaking afterwards, Hibs assistant boss Adam Owen allayed fears that the summer signing might be a doubt for the visit of Unai Emery’s side in midweek for the first leg of the highly-anticipated Europa Conference League play-off clash between the two teams.

Dylan Vente holds his face after being caught in the face by Liam Dick's boot in the closing stages of Hibs' 2-1 Viaplay Cup victory over Raith Rovers. Picture: Ross Parker / SNS Group

Revealing that the former Feyenoord youngster hadn’t broken his nose, Owen said: “Dylan should be fine. It was a nice welcome to Scottish football! He got it right on the nose; they just couldn’t stop the bleed outside on the pitch but they stopped it in the changing room. He should be fine.”

The club will also know more about the condition of midfielder Dylan Levitt on Monday. The Welsh internationalist sustained a nasty-looking ankle injury early in the second half of Thursday night’s 2-2 draw with Luzern in Switzerland and couldn’t continue, with manager Lee Johnson admitting afterwards that he feared the ex-Manchester United kid had suffered ankle ligament injury – potentially ruling him out for a lengthy period of time.

The player watched the League Cup win from the stands, wearing a moon boot and walking gingerly on crutches and regardless of the information the club receives this week, almost certainly won’t play a part in the midweek showdown.

Meanwhile, Hibs have been drawn at home to face St Mirren in the quarter-finals of the Viaplay Cup competition.