Shaun Maloney speaks on James Scott as Hibs boss sends message to forward

The 21-year-old fell out of favour under previous boss Jack Ross, but Maloney has been impressed with Scott so far, who has so far made just six appearances for the Capital club.

He said: "James will stay until the end of the season. I've been really happy with him in training. After what he's shown, the next stage for him is that when he gets match minutes he has to show what he's been doing in training.

"That's not to put pressure on him because I think he's done very well but the next stage for him is to fight to get minutes in a match and show his talent."

Shaun Maloney has been impressed by James Scott

Hibs have brought in six new faces this month and Maloney doesn’t anticipate much more movement before the end of the window.

"I'm really happy with what we've done so far,” he added.

"I'm very appreciative of the work the owner [Ron Gordon] and the CEO [Ben Kensell] have done to bring in the players as quickly as they have because having this much time training has been a big benefit. I'm really happy with the squad I have."

Meanwhile, the Evening News understands that there is nothing in reports linking Hibs with Brentford winger Joel Valencia. The 27-year-old was said to be a loan target for the Easter Road side but the rumour appear to be wide of the mark.

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