Hibs injury update as key duo set to return against Livingston but midfield trio will miss out

Hibs manager Lee Johnson expects to have strikers Mykola Kukharevych and Kevin Nisbet back for the trip to Livingston, but will be without a handful of other players through ‘niggles and knocks’.
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The Easter Road boss is without long-term absentees Martin Boyle, Rocky Bushiri, Harry McKirdy, and Aiden McGeady – the latter being ruled out for the remainder of the season on Friday – and they are joined on the sidelines by three midfielders who have all received injections in a bid to get to the bottom of their respective injury concerns.

“To have Mykola and Kevin back is a good force, plus the other strikers and attackers we have in the squad gives us a dangerous front-line,” he said. “They both look really good, so no doubt they’ll be ready for the game. They played 60 minutes in a closed-doors game, and have now trained for a full two weeks. Nizzy is working very hard off the pitch as well, in terms of gym stuff and that’s showing up well.

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"Obviously Matthew Hoppe has done well since he came in, Élie Youan has also provided a threat for us in the last four or five weeks, and Ewan Henderson has been excellent in his last two appearances. This is what we want, this is what we need – a nice balance to things.”

Mykola Kukharevych could make his playing return against LivingstonMykola Kukharevych could make his playing return against Livingston
Mykola Kukharevych could make his playing return against Livingston

Johnson may be without some other players for the trip to Livingston with a ‘couple of knocks and niggles’ picked up in training this week.

"I can’t guarantee whether the players will actually miss out, but there may be one or two names missing from the team sheet that you might ordinarily expect to see,” he continued.

"Kyle Magennis is out; he’s had an injection so we’ll see how that settles down. Jake Doyle-Hayes is also out; he’s had an injection as well. There’s been fits and starts in terms of what we can get out of him in training. He’s still aggravated by the injury and I think we just need to look after him, holistically at the moment.

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"Joe Newell is also out. He had an injection for his ankle on Monday and it needs time to settle, plus it wouldn’t have been ideal to play him on the AstroTurf, so we’ll see where we are after this game.”

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