Darren McGregor 'closing in on return to action for Hibs', reveals Jack Ross

Jack Ross has revealed Hibs defender Darren McGregor is closing in on a return to action after being sidelined for three months with an abdominal injury.

Darren McGregor takes part in a training session at Hibs' East Mains complex

The 34-year-old limped off just 14 minutes into the Easter Road outfit’s Betfred Cup clash with Morton in mid-August as the club’s casualty list dramatically rose.

Martin Boyle and Ryan Porteous were at that point still recovering from knee operations and only a week later club captain David Gray suffered a knee injury which has ruled him out since.

Porteous is now back in central defence while Boyle’s three cameo appearances as a substitute earned him a recall by Australia for their World Cup qualifying match against Jordan in which he also stepped from the bench.

But now McGregor, who has missed 12 matches, has returned to full training to give Ross a boost in his first week as Hibs new head coach with Gray also taking steps towards a comeback.

Ross said: “Darren is back training properly. He was scheduled to play in a bounce game on Tuesday but it was postponed. Hopefully we can get a game organised for him soon.

“David will hopefully be back on the grass at the beginning of December so we are relatively healthy.

"People were saying the numbers I’ve had to work with this week have probably been the most that they’ve had. Long may that continue.”