Byrne swaps Easter Road for Stirling loan switch

STIRLING Albion, still reeling from last weekend's 9-0 defeat to Ross County in the fifth round of the Active Nation Scottish Cup, have been boosted by the loan signing of young Hibernian forward Kurtis Byrne.

Byrne, the son of former Celtic player Paul, has joined the Forthbank club for 28 days to help their push for promotion from the Second Division.

The 19-year-old Irishman shot to fame last season when he scored the winner for Hibs in the SFA Youth Cup final against Rangers at Hampden Park, as well as notching the clinching Under-19 league-winning goal at Motherwell's Fir Park.

While fellow youth graduate David Wotherspoon has excelled in Hibs' fine run this season, Byrne has failed to force his way into new manager John Hughes' first-team plans, so far making only four substitute appearances in the Premier League.

The player made his debut against Brechin City in the Co-operative Insurance Cup earlier in the campaign but has faced stiff competition up front in the shape of Anthony Stokes, Derek Riordan, Abdessalam Benjelloun and Colin Nish.

Allan Moore is likely to find a place in his starting XI for Byrne and last night revealed his delight at the short-term loan capture.

The Stirling manager said: "Having lost Martin Grehan to Partick Thistle in the last transfer window I have been looking to bring in a replacement.

"I am also trying to extend Craig McKeown's loan spell from Dundee to bolster our defence after last Saturday's cup-tie at Ross County."

Stirling have the chance to get last Saturday's 9-0 cup drubbing out their systems as they take on Dumbarton at the Strathclyde Homes Stadium on league business tomorrow afternoon.