'A distraction': Hibs' Kevin Nisbet doesn't want to let contract talks get in way of red-hot form as striker speaks on future

Hibs striker Kevin Nisbet kept up his recent form with two goals against Dundee United.

Nisbet has 18 months of his current deal to run but, given his excellent form of seven goals in six games since returning from an ACL injury and the Edinburgh club's desire to avoid a Ryan Porteous-type situation where he could leave for no fee, Hibs want to tie him down on fresh, extended terms. His manager Lee Johnson said on Thursday that he expects conversations to begin imminently.

Nisbet scored twice in Hibs’ 2-2 draw with Dundee United and is refusing to let any speculation over his future derail his form. “I’m just concentrating on getting back fit,” said the 25-year-old. “I’ll let my representatives deal with that. I don’t really want anything to get in the way, don’t want to be involved, just want to keep scoring goals. It would be a distraction. I try to keep as far away from it as possible, let my representatives get on with it. We’ve got a massive game against Hearts to focus on. I don’t want distractions going into that, when I’m so full of confidence.

“The Hearts game is massive, easily one of our biggest games of the season. Win that and we keep our [Scottish] Cup run going, builds confidence into two big games in the league, against Aberdeen and Ross County. So we dust ourselves down, try to identify what went wrong against United – and try to rectify those wrongs.“