Hibs Under-18s players braced for first-team involvement with at least ten senior stars sidelined

Hibs could be without at least ten first-team players for Wednesday night’s rearranged Scottish Premiership clash against Ross County in Dingwall.

A general view of Hibs' Easter Road stadium

Five senior players have tested positive for Covid-19 with at least another five sidelined through injury, while one member of the coaching staff has also returned a positive test.

As a result the Easter Road side cancelled training for the Under-18 squad with some youngsters expected to be involved with the first team on Wednesday.

The match was orginally scheduled to be played at 3pm on Saturday October 30 but after two first-team players tested positive for Covid-19 and around half of the travelling party were identified as close contacts, the fixture was postponed.

Despite Hibs’ efforts to secure an alternative date for the rescheduled match, the SPFL ordered the game to be played on Wednesday November 3 at 7.45pm.

Easter Road chiefs claim that forcing Hibs to fulfil the match so soon after the original postponement was unfair on supporters as well as the affected players and staff.

Jack Ross will almost certainly need to supplement his first-team squad with some of the club’s youth players in order to raise a team.

Eddie May and Gareth Evans’ squad played on the Friday night before the original Ross County fixture, ruling them out of late inclusion in the squad for Saturday’s postponed fixture as rules prevent them from playing two matches in a 24-hour period.

However the Under-18s - who are unbeaten in the league and Youth Cup so far this term – will be available for the rearranged meeting if required.

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