Lee Johnson gives work permit update for Hibs trio

Lee Johnson admits it’s frustrating that work permits have held up Hibs debuts for summer signings Momodou Bojang, Élie Youan, and Jair Tavares – but insists it’s the same the world over.

The trio will be unavailable for Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup group opener against Clyde, but the Easter Road boss is hopeful that they will be worth the wait.

"I was looking forward to seeing them, and they were looking forward to getting out there in front of the fans,” he said.

"But it's a long season and there will be plenty of time for them to get the fans off their seats.

"We haven't even talked about Momodou – we haven't even met him yet, even though I'm in contact with him every day.

"It's difficult in terms of immigration because of the Ukraine situation and there's a big workload for Home Offices all over the world. Bojang is an example – in Gambia, they're only open twice a week and there must be a lot of applications there.

"You used to be able to fast-track it by paying an extra fee but you can't at the moment with the state the world is in. It's a little bit frustrating but mainly for the lads.”

Johnson admitted the club is pulling out all the stops but conceded that patience may be a virtue.

Hibs players are put through their paces at the training centre ahead of the Premier Sports Cup group match against Clyde

"It just means we can't play them until they have been rubber-stamped. We're trying to pull in all sorts of favours at the moment.

“I think Aberdeen are experiencing something similar with one of their players. It's not a Hibs thing, it's a world thing.”