Why Elie Youan should remain up front even after Kevin Nisbet returns from injury

Elie Youan should continue to lead the Hibs attack even after Kevin Nisbet returns to fitness, reckons club legend Mickey Weir.

The French forward has mainly played through the centre across the last four matches as Hibs have won three and drawn the other. The summer signing from Troyes has three goals across that stretch having only hit the back of the net once across the rest of the campaign.

Nisbet, the club’s joint-top scorer this season with eight, felt a “pinch” in his hamstring early in the 1-1 draw with Ross County. The injury isn’t serious as he’s expected back sooner rather than later.

Nisbet’s quality would typically demand he goes straight back into the side with Youan potentially moving back to the left wing, but Weir isn’t sure manager Lee Johnson should be fiddling with a winning formula.

Elie Youan has been in excellent form recently leading the Hibs attack. Picture: SNS

“I think one of the big things with Hibs’ improvement has been Elie Youan playing through the middle as a central striker,” said Weir. “His pace and directness just causes opposing defences loads of problems.

“That's something that Hibs had lacked. Kevin Nisbet has done very well in terms of scoring the goals, but we've needed someone to really stretch defences and Youan has been able to do it through the centre more than he was out on the left.

“Lee Johnson may need to look at his shape once Nisbet is fit again. Because you want to accentuate the positives and right now that's Youan playing through the centre. Aiden McGeady being out for any length of time through injury might mean that Youan just goes back to the left. But we do have Matthew Hoppe now who has looked really promising in his couple of appearances so far.

“It's a bit of a dilemma for the manager because he's got the shape and a balance which is working for the team. Youan is finally starting to show the consistency because we all know there's been a player there, right from the start of the season you could see his quickness and quality on the ball.

“At the very least it's a good option to have to be able to play with two central strikers.”

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