Hibs recall Kyle McClelland from loan spell with Cove Rangers

Hibs have recalled defender Kyle McClelland from his loan spell with cinch Championship side Cove Rangers.

Cove have brought in Jackson Longridge on loan from Livingston until the end of the season but needed to free up a space, having already used up their quota of loan deals, and all three teams managed to do the paperwork ahead of Tuesday’s 11.30pm deadline for temporary transfers, with McClelland returning to Hibs.

The 21-year-old joined the Aberdeenshire side on a season-long loan back in September but an ankle injury disrupted his opportunities at the Balmoral Stadium in the first half of the season.

McClelland played three times before an eight-game spell on the sidelines lasting from October until Christmas. Since then he has made the squad on ten occasions in all competitions, playing seven times, most recently in an unfamiliar defensive midfield role in a 2-1 defeat by Morton in which he was replaced after just 31 minutes following a yellow card.

Kyle McClelland in action for Cove Rangers

The former Rangers youngster has now returned to Hibs and will be available for the Hibs development side for the remainder of the campaign.

The Northern Ireland Under-21 internationalist, who joined Hibs in the summer and travelled with the first-team squad to their pre-season training camp in Portugal before making four appearances in the Premier Sports Cup group stages and a substitute appearance against Livingston in the cinch Premiership, made ten appearances in all for Cove, featuring under Jim McIntyre and successor Paul Hartley.

A statement from Cove read: “We would like to extend our best wishes to Kyle for his future career and thank him for all his efforts during his time with the club.”