Martin Scott told his season is over at Hibs

Boss Pat Fenlon has made the 26-year-old available on loan although a move will have to be rushed through before Saturday to beat the March 31 deadline for such deals.

The former Livingston player was signed on a long-term contract from Ross County by former manager Colin Calderwood 14 months ago for a fee reported to be in the region of £80,000 at a time when his assistant was ex-Staggies boss Derek Adam.

But since Fenlon replaced Calderwood, Scott has fallen out of favour, his last start being at the beginning of January while he had been confined to a role as a substitute for many of Hibs’ matches prior to then.

Hibs slipped the news out on their official website, two paragraphs at the end of a statement entitled “Loan Transfer Update” which centred on 18-year-old Jordon Forster extending his stay with Berwick Rangers and Sean Welsh set to do likewise at Partick Thistle before mentioning Scott. The statement said: “Martin Scott has been made available for loan after being told by Pat Fenlon he will not feature in his plans for the rest of the season.”

Today’s announcement will put a question mark over Scott’s long term future at Easter Road given Fenlon’s decision he’s no part to play in the club’s battle to avoid relegation from the SPL, Hibs currently just three points ahead of basement side Dunfermline with only seven matches remaining.

Hibs’ predicament has attracted many unwelcome headlines, particularly in the wake of successive defeats to Hearts and Dundee United, but today Fenlon insisted his players had to be big enough to cope with the flak which has been directed at them.

He said: “We’re the big club that’s in trouble and people want to jump on that bandwagon. That’s just something we’ve got to be able to deal with. That’s an added pressure, but we have to accept that.

“If you want to play for a big club – like we are – then you have to be able to take the criticism on the chin. We need to use that as a motivational tool rather than let it get us down. A lot of people would like to see us struggle, but there’s no point complaining about that, it’s just a fact of life.

“We’ve got to use that to our advantage and re-energise ourselves for some very important matches. The players need to take the fear factor away from their game and embrace the experience of playing for a great club like Hibernian.”