Hibs injury updates as Monty seeks wins - without risking long-term damage

Midfielder and fullback taking slow and steady path to recovery

Chris Cadden and Jake Doyle-Hayes in training. Cadden is now back to full fitness - but Doyle-Hayes is being eased back after after nine months out.

Hibs are nursing two key players back from injury – and won’t risk doing long-term damage by throwing them into the closing stages of a lost season. But Nick Montgomery’s men have received a boost with the return to health of an on-loan all-rounder ahead of Saturday’s trip to the Highlands.

Monty remains under pressure to turn things around in the closing stages of the campaign after failing to make the top six before the Scottish Premiership split. After beating St Johnstone in Perth in the first post-split fixture, they head to Dingwall to take on Ross County this weekend.

While Nectar Triantis has recovered from an illness which has kept him out of action for the best part of a month, the coaching staff are taking no chances with another couple of absentees. Socceroos fullback Lewis Miller remains touch-and-go with a hamstring problem – and long-term injury victim Jake Doyle-Hayes is being wrapped in cotton wool despite returning to full training with the first-team squad.

Former St Mirren midfielder Doyle-Hayes hasn’t featured for Hibs since August, with complications following ankle surgery contributing to a series of set-backs. The Irishman has been on the brink of a full comeback more than once in recent months, only for a new problem to scupper his hopes.

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Montgomery, looking forward to having a potentially important player available but wary of pushing him to breaking point, said: “Jake has been back in training for the last couple of weeks, but it’s been managed. So he has a couple of days in and then a couple of days out.

“We just need to get him to a stage where maybe he gets some minutes before the end of the season. But, if not, he comes back ready in pre-season.

“The important thing is he puts everything behind him. We can’t rush someone back just to say he got a couple of minutes when there’s going to be an off season where he could continue to get himself right.

“He’s been a big loss for the team. Knowing the sort of player he is, when we had periods of missing a lot of players this season, he could have made a big impact for us. Because he’s a real team player.”

Miller was expected to return against St Johnstone last weekend, only to be withdrawn from the squad on medical advice, the gaffer explaining: “We don’t feel that he’s ready and don’t feel like risking him. That was the right thing to do. The medical staff and physios are monitoring it, because with a hamstring injury you don’t want to push it and he ends up out for a couple of months.”

Triantis, who has looked more comfortable in midfield than defence since his January loan move from Sunderland, is definitely available, Monty saying: “Nectar is good. He had a bit of sickness, an illness that has been going around for the last couple of months. But he’ll be back and fighting for minutes from now until the end of the season.”