Hibs plot full return for £600,000 star signing as gaffer issues 'live to regret' warning on Scotland striker

Hibs fans will need to remain patient as they await marquee summer signing Kieron Bowie’s first start in a green jersey, according to gaffer David Gray. And the manager says rushing £600,000 recruit Bowie back into the starting XI could lead to ‘regrets’ further down the line.

The Scotland Under-21 striker has been gradually building up match fitness since recovering from hamstring surgery, having pulled up after making back-to-back starts on international duty back in September. He’d been slowly working his way back from a previous hamstring problem, making only limited appearances from the substitutes’ bench at club level, when disaster struck during his second game in five days for Scott Gemmill’s 21s.

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Although there are no concerns of a repeat injury, with surgery having solved the underlying problem completely, the Hibs coaching and medical staff are wary of Bowie picking up an unrelated strain simply because he’s missed nearly four months of football. Having been given half an hour in the 3-0 home win against Scottish Cup opponents Clydebank, the former Fulham player was only risked for 20 minutes on the awful pitch in Dingwall at the weekend.

Gray cautioned against the idea that two substitute appearances should be followed by a start in this weekend’s home game against Aberdeen, saying: “No, we're in no rush with that one whatsoever. I won’t be putting pressure on him to feel like he needs to push on and get a start.

“He's going to need to go on again at the weekend. And I think it's just a case of building him up as he goes.

“It's another week down the line, which is great. So you get even more training in him, even more minutes in his legs at the weekend.

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“So all going in a real positive direction, but you still need to be very mindful of the same issues as when I had him at the start of the season. We can’t be rushing him into feeling unsafe or pushing him too hard.

“If we encourage him to do too much too early, we could live to regret it down the line. Nobody wants that.

“You know, he's still well ahead. Not well ahead of schedule, necessarily, but he’s where he needs to be, progressing nicely.

“We'll do what we can to make sure he finishes the season as strong as he can. That’s far more important than taking a risk now just to get him starting again.”

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