Why Hibs will almost certainly benefit from another free weekend despite good form as injured players near return

It is the million-dollar question: if a team is on a good run of form, unbeaten in six matches for example, do free weekends provide a frustration at not being able to keep the run going consistently, or are they actually a blessing in disguise?

In Hibs’ case, it is probably the latter. The chance to build on a run of games that has seen them beat Motherwell, Aberdeen, St Mirren, and Kilmarnock and record draws against Dundee United and Ross County is one Lee Johnson and his players are no doubt relishing, with next weekend’s trip to Livingston a good litmus test of where the team are following the January window.

The break between the St Mirren and Kilmarnock games was down to the Scottish Cup fifth-round ties taking place, while this weekend is blank with scheduled opponents Rangers in Viaplay Cup final action against Celtic on Sunday. But while there might be an annoyance at having to wait another seven days for the next game it could be beneficial for Hibs.

Mykola Kukharevych, who hasn’t kicked a ball since the 1-0 defeat by Kilmarnock in November, before the break for the 2022 World Cup, could return to action at the Tony Macaroni Arena. Fellow striker Kevin Nisbet, who missed the matches against St Mirren and Kilmarnock, is also set to make a comeback.

Hibs will hope to maintain their unbeaten run - but another free weekend could be a good thing

Joe Newell, who sat out the Killie game with an ankle problem, could also be in contention and the extra time will have been useful for those returning from injury, such as Jake Doyle-Hayes and Kyle Magennis, and new signing Mikey Devlin, who is still getting up to speed.

Incredibly, when Newell sat out the Kilmarnock game he became the 18th Hibs player this season alone to miss a competitive game through injury. Granted, some absences have been for single matches only. Others such as Nisbet, Kukharevych, Rocky Bushiri, Aiden McGeady, Martin Boyle, and Lewis Miller have already spent lengthy periods on the sidelines, with McGeady likely to face another spell out, with the winger due to undergo further scans on the hamstring injury that forced him out of the 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock. Harry McKirdy is another to have been in and out of the squad with injuries.

It even affected the goalkeepers, with Ryan Schofield brought in on loan from Huddersfield Town as cover towards the end of the summer transfer window after then understudy to David Marshall Kevin Dąbrowski suffered an injury in training.

Johnson has never had a full complement of players to choose from and has frequently questioned where the side would be without the catalogue of injuries.

A free weekend will allow returning players a more relaxed return rather than being hurried back

"We’ve had to adapt our style this year because we haven’t had a consistency of fit players. If you study who we have and haven’t had, our threats have been reduced like, weekly," the Hibs boss told the Evening News in an exclusive interview.

"Even when they come back from injury the expectations have been too high on, for example, Kevin Nisbet. How can he carry the burden of having to score every chance when he’s been out for nigh-on ten months of football? It all factors in to what has been a battle of a season but if we do finish where I believe we can finish, then it will have been probably one of the best collective jobs done in terms of the hurdles we’ve overcome – you could write a book on the issues we’ve had.”

Johnson is also owning his mistakes in this ‘battle of a season’. He hoped to come in and get Hibs back to a level where they were comfortably competing for the top four. It is to his, and the players’ credit that despite that poor run of results in the first half of the season and all the injury problems, they are currently five points off rivals Hearts who sit third.

"I didn’t expect a season like this. I wanted to come in to Hibs, smash it, and be third,” Johnson admits. “But, now I’m in it, I understand that we have to keep building our football nous; we need to make better decisions and we need to have better structures and policies in place. All I’m trying to do is add value to that.

"I’m here as a custodian but this club will definitely be in a better place when I leave, either by success or failure. Sometimes you have to go through those tricky moments and cope with them to be able to come out of the other side and learn lessons.”

Lessons in recruitment have clearly been learned between the summer and winter transfer windows. There are fewer positional curve-balls too. But next weekend is the real test for Hibs.

Livingston has never been the happiest of hunting grounds for Hibs. There have been some positive results, but too many like the drab 1-0 defeat in late April when Scott Pittman’s goal gave the hosts victory despite Hibs recording 18 shots on goal, but none on target. Livi’s results have been mixed recently but they are more often than not a daunting prospect on home (astro)turf. David Martindale has worked wonders on a shoestring budget and has already led his team to victory over Hibs this season, a 2-1 win in August at the Tony Mac.

If Hibs are to have a chance of maintaining their unbeaten run and potentially tallying up another victory, they will need to be at their best, and the return of Kukharevych, Newell, and Nisbet could be key to a good performance. Johnson will be wary of expecting too much from his returning players and putting too much pressure on them, so the onus is on those who have been doing the business in recent weeks to maintain that – and if the returning trio can add some gloss to it, Hibs might just continue their positive run of form.