Hibs to assess key trio's fitness ahead of Aberdeen clash

Hibs manager Jack Ross says he will assess the likes of Joe Newell, Ryan Porteous and Kevin Nisbet before finalising a decision on whether to risk them at Pittodrie this evening.

Kevin Nisbet (centre) and Joe Newell, far right, have picked up knocks.

The trio all came off injured during the Capital side’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Dundee United at the weekend and, although all three took part in training on Tuesday, their gaffer says he would wait to see if there was any adverse reaction before throwing them into the possible top-three clincher against challengers Aberdeen, especially with the Scottish Cup final to consider and viable replacements to hand.

Darren McGregor came on for Porteous at Hampden, while Melker Hallberg could hold onto his place, with Alex Gogic able to return after serving his cup suspension. Jamie Murphy is again an option, having recovered from his latest hamstring injury and offering creativity when he replaced Nisbet on Saturday.

With plenty of scope for flexibility, with formations and personnel, Ross said it may make sense to rest certain players.

“Saturday was quite a tough game for us and it is a quick turnaround so we will assess them and make a decision but it may be that we have to make some changes through the team.”

“Melker was excellent on Saturday but I was more than confident that he would produce that type of performance. He has been a little unfortunate and hasn't played as often as he would like but we have had good performers in that area of the pitch. All he can do is grab the opportunities when they come along and he did that at the weekend.”