Jair Tavares set for Hibs bow after Portuguese winger secures work permit

Jair Tavares could make his Hibs debut this week after the winger’s work permit came through after more than four weeks of waiting.

The Lisbon-born winger joined from Benfica on June 15 and although he met up with his new team-mates at the club’s pre-season training camp in the Algarve before travelling to Edinburgh, he has been forced to fly back and forth between Scotland and Portugal in a bid to speed up the process.

Tavares was forced to sit out the Premier Sports Cup games against Clyde, Falkirk, and Bonnyrigg Rose and although Wednesday night’s final group game at home to Greenock Morton might come to soon for the 21-year-old attacker, he is in line to make his Easter Road bow in Sunday’s friendly against Norwich City – the second match between the two clubs after the Hibs development team defeated the Canaries under-23s 5-1 in a friendly meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Croatian left-back Marijan Čabraja and French forward Élie Youan are unlikely to be involved against the Cappielow outfit, with their paperwork still to be signed off, although there remains the possibility they too could get the green light to face Norwich.

Manager Lee Johnson said earlier this month that he was hopeful of having all three available for the start of the league campaign, with Hibs travelling to face St Johnstone for their curtain raiser on Saturday July 30.

In the meantime he is expected to go with more or less the same squad for the visit of Dougie Imrie’s side as Hibs look to book their place in the knockout stages of the competition.