Oli Shaw set for Ross County move after Hibs 'agree fee' with Staggies

Oli Shaw's time at Hibs looks to be nearing an end

Oli Shaw is set to complete a move to Ross County after Hibs agreed a fee with the Staggies for the Scotland Under-21 striker, according to reports.

The 21-year-old hasn't started a competitive game for the Capital club in close to a year, and was a reported target for St Mirren as well as the Dingwall outfit after appearing to fall out of favour at Easter Road.

Kilmarnock were understood to be keen on taking Shaw on loan during the summer while St Johnstone were also monitoring the situation, and both clubs were believed to have retained an interest in Shaw when County stepped up their pursuit this month after the striker hit a double in the winter break friendly against Dutch side Willem II in Estepona, Spain.

During the shutdown it was suggested that the player could be allowed to leave the club in search of more gametime, but that any move would hinge on Hibs bringing in another striker.

Head coach Jack Ross said: "There are people interested in taking Oli on loan, but we don’t have a huge amount of strikers at the club.

"We have only really got Florian [Kamberi] and Christian [Doidge] as senior strikers. We need to be careful with that, but equally we need to make sure Oli continues to develop."

Shaw has hit 12 goals and four assists in 65 games for Hibs, but has played just 66 minutes of league football this term. His last run-out was a 23-minute substitute appearance in the 2-0 defeat at Livingston last month and he has struggled to dislodge Doidge and Kamberi as the first-choice attackers under Ross and his predecessor Paul Heckingbottom.

Meanwhile, Hibs have taken Estonian international midfielder Mihkel Ainsalu on trial from FC Flora Tallinn but are without defensive duo Jason Naismith and Ryan Porteous for the foreseeable following injuries sustained by the pair during the Scottish Cup fourth-round clash at Dundee United last weekend.