Josh Doig puts 'plan in place' after signing new long-term deal with Hibs
Named Scottish Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year last term, the teenager had been linked with a move away from the Leith club in the summer but his English suitors were unwilling to meet Hibs’ valuation and, putting all the speculation to one side, Doig was forced to knuckle down.
Impressed with his maturity as well as his performances, the club have moved quickly to tie him up on a longer-term deal.
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Hide AdThe Scotland U21 defender, who is comfortable operating as a left-back or a left wing-back, broke into Jack Ross’ team last term and went on to make 30 appearances and score one goal in his debut season, helping the Easter Road outfit to their first top three finish in 16 years.
He has been challenged to build on that and despite covid setbacks early in the campaign, the 19-year-old has already added a further dozen appearances to that tally, in Europe, in the Premier Sports Cup and the Premiership.
He is expected to play a key role for Hibs when the club turns out at Hampden in the semi-final of the cup on Sunday, looking to navigate past Rangers and book their second successive domestic cup final.
Last season they failed to make it beyond the last four in this competition and then fell at the final hurdle, against St Johnstone, in the Scottish Cup final.
“I’m absolutely delighted. I absolutely love this club and it was a no brainer to sign.
“Getting this done puts a real plan in place for me. I love working with everyone here, I’m so happy here and wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Doig joins Christian Doidge, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson in signing new deals this week.
“We’re delighted that Josh has signed a new deal with us,” said his gaffer, Ross. “There was a lot of speculation regarding his future in the summer, but he showed real maturity to deal with a difficult situation.
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Hide Ad“We believe he’s one of the top young players in this country and we want to keep him with us to continue his development.”
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