Mykola Kukharevych Edinburgh derby chances rated as Hibs boss Lee Johnson gives update

Hibs manager Lee Johnson remains hopeful of including Mykola Kukharevych in his squad for Monday’s Edinburgh derby after the Ukrainian forward pulled up ahead of the midweek defeat by Celtic.

The 21-year-old was named among the substitutes for the visit of the cinch Premiership league-leaders, having missed the 3-2 defeat by Rangers and 4-0 win against Livingston, but he felt something in the pre-match warm-up and was replaced on the bench by Demi Mitchell.

After playing through the pain barrier for the first 45 minutes of Hibs’ 6-1 drubbing by the Hoops in October, Johnson is keeping a close eye on the on-loan Troyes striker to ensure he isn’t ‘trying to play the hero’.

“He got injured again in the warm-up; I’m not sure exactly how, maybe he struck a shot and didn’t feel quite right,” Johnson said as he previewed the short trip to face Hearts on Monday. “It wasn’t too bad but we had a bit of a discussion on the back of the Celtic game in Glasgow where he said he was alright after a bad back and then played, trying to be a hero, and wasn’t fit. He was lame, if you like. That was a bit of lesson for him because he’s young, he doesn’t know his body yet, he wanted to be brave but sometimes by being brave you let the team down."

Hibs are hopeful Mykola Kukharevych will be fit to play a part in Monday's derby

Kuharevych still has a chance of making the matchday squad with Johnson hopeful of including him, but a late decision will be made as to whether he is involved at Tynecastle Park.

“I think there was a bit of an air of caution for the team knowing that he was probably going to need to play half an hour coming off the bench with Kevin Nisbet still chasing his minutes. We’re chasing the load, more importantly, because with a year out and this period of games, it’s very difficult to manage for the likes of Nizzy and Kyle Magennis,” Johnson explained.

“He’s about 50/50 at the moment, for the derby. He felt a little nip, which you sometimes do with that sort of medial ligament injury he’s got but we’re hopeful he could at least play a half.”