What Lee Johnson said about Hibs injuries ahead of Rangers game with forward rated 'a maybe'

Hibs are without five first-team players for the visit of Rangers on cinch Premiership duty tonight, with three midfielders among those missing.

Speaking on Monday, manager Lee Johnson confirmed that Jake Doyle-Hayes remained sidelined as he battles with discomfort stemming from an operation and subsequent injection on an ankle problem. Joe Newell is also nursing an ankle problem and had an injection to help cure the problem, while Kyle Magennis is also out having received an injection as well.

One player who might be back is Harry McKirdy. The forward was ruled out for four to six weeks after picking up an injury in the 1-0 victory over St Mirren in Paisley in early February and although tonight’s game might come too soon for the 25-year-old, there is an outside chance he could be named among the substitutes.

Johnson said: "Maybe Harry McKirdy; he’s the only one who is fifty-fifty. It might come a little bit too soon for him because he had an unrelated illness as well as his injury which knocked him back three or four days but he’s quite a fit guy naturally so we might be able to use him from the bench if needed.

The Hibs players are put through their paces at East Mains ahead of the visit of Rangers

"Jake is still out at the moment on the back of his injection, but he is training. He had a bit of floating bone removed from his ankle, and since then he’s had an injection. He’s been a little bit uncomfortable in terms of being at his best movement-wise, and he’s been a little bit frustrated by that, but hopefully he won’t be too long.”

Mykola Kukharevych and Kevin Nisbet both returned to action in the 4-1 win at Livingston, with the Ukrainian forward notching the fourth goal on his first appearance since early November, and could be handed a starting berth if Johnson changes things up.

Josh Campbell had substantial strapping on his knee during the game in West Lothian but is fine and available for selection. Martin Boyle, Rocky Bushiri, and Aiden McGeady remain sidelined for the foreseeable.

Allan Delferrière travelled with the squad to Livingston and played just 45 minutes of Tuesday’s SPFL Reserve League victory over Queen’s Park along with Oscar MacIntyre and Josh O’Connor. The trio are likely to be involved with the first-team squad once again.