Hibs injury update as manager confirms midfielder Joe Newell is "in contention"

Joe Newell going through his paces at training ahead of Saturday's match at home to Motherwell

The central midfielder has been on the sidelines with an ankle injury for around eight weeks, but has been working tirelessly with the Club’s medical staff to return as quickly as possible. That work has paid off and he could make his return on Saturday.

“It’s a big boost,” said Johnson. “Joe has been training with us now for a week going on 10 days. We still have to be a little bit cautious about his load because he’s still having some impingement in the ankle, but at the same time, a fit Joe Newell certainly adds quality and composure in the starting XI or from the bench.”

Harry McKirdy and Kevin Nisbet are also available again as Hibs return to action after the international break. Élie Youan is missing through suspension, while Kyle Magennis, Rocky Bushiri, Martin Boyle and Aiden McGeady are all longer-term absentees. But Johnson is pleased with the depth in his squad.

“We feel like we’ve got quality, even with the players we’ve got out injured, and we’re starting to see signs that the recruitment has been good over the two windows,” he added.

“We feel we certainly have strength in depth now. We've still got three or four big injuries, players we'd rather have on the pitch – Bushiri, McGeady, Magennis, Boyle – but at the same time we have players back now.

“Jake Doyle-Hayes I thought was excellent against Celtic; Harry McKirdy's back in, Kevin Nisbet is ready to go for sure.

"I feel like the bench is strong and as a manager making decisions, if you can look around at your bench and everyone's champing at the bit to get on then that's a really positive sign. Élie Youan's suspended as well but we trained with 21 outfield players on Thursday morning so that's great.”

It’s a big game in the race for a third-place finish and one Hibs will be expecting to win. Aberdeen moved ahead of Hibs into fourth last time out and the gap between the Edinburgh side and third-place Hearts remains five points.