Rival Premiership club suffer injury hammer blow as former Hibs star endures season ending damage
He’s been a key performer for one of Hibs’ opponents this season but now has been injured.
A Premiership club have revealed that a former Hibs player is set to miss the rest of the season through injury.
Drey Wright is a key player at St Johnstone, now in his second spell with the Perthshire side. A winger traditionally, he has played as deep as centre-back in a tough season for Simo Valakari’s side who are looking to pull off the great escape at the bottom of the table.
After a 3-0 loss against Hibs, they responded with a gritty 1-0 win over Celtic. That has sent a jolt into their survival bid but at a cost, with Valakari admitting Wright is out for likely the remainder of what’s left in this campaign. The 29-year-old was at Hibs between 2020-2022, playing 50 times.
Former Hibs star blow
Valakari said: "Drey doesn't have a fracture but he's badly damaged his ankle ligaments. It doesn't look good. If he can still play a part this season it would be a big bonus for us. It's a real blow, Drey has been very good for us playing in a lot of different positions. He's filled in a lot of gaps and put in a high level of performance. But we need other people to step up and take that responsibility now.
"It's a blow for us and a bigger blow for Drey because he's desperate to help the team. He's experienced, he understands this is part of the game at times and he is disappointed. But at the same time, he's not given up on the season yet. He says he is a fast healer, so he will be trying to get back."
Easter Road platform
The Saints boss has also revealed how he used the pain of the defeat to Hibs as a base to form a plan to down Celtic. Valakari added: “What I liked about our performance on Sunday is the way we went into it, wanting to show we are better than we had been against Hibs. The players were desperate to show we are not that bad.
"Before kick-off everyone would have taken a draw if we were offered it, but as the game goes on you start to think you can win it. To not win it in the end would have been a big disappointment, so I was really pleased with the way we saw it out.
"This business is all about results, we have no option but to go out and perform now. This team has been there before and has this fight within them. Sunday's result helps us believe in what we're doing."