'Challenging' past two days for Hibs starlet Josh Doig as Jack Ross speaks on transfer timing

Jack Ross is braced for losing teenage left-back Josh Doig in the next few days, with Burnley and Watford leading the race for his signature.

Jack Ross has nothing but praise for Josh Doig, who is likely to leave Hibs in the coming days.

Doig was left out of the Hibs squad for Sunday’s 3-2 win over Motherwell after concrete interest emerged in the 19-year-old, who has also been linked with a move to Arsenal.

And while a deal has yet to be struck for Doig, Ross admits that his exit is likely to happen “soon” and that he had no option but to leave him out of proceedings at Fir Park due to the ongoing speculation.

“He’s still a Hibs player and it’s not impossible that he’ll still be a Hibs player come the end of the window,” said Ross.

Doig is wanted by a number of clubs in England.

“Certainly how things have developed over the past few days it looks much more likely that he’ll leave and if he does so it will be a fantastic move for him and good value for us as a club.

“Ideally, for me as a manager, you want those things to happen much sooner than in he past couple of days but you’ve got to deal with the problem it creates and find a solution.

“It’s been a challenging few days for him as he’s only 19 and it’s a new experience for him.

“We’ll see him again on Monday and we’ll go from there. At the moment it looks much more likely that he’ll be going soon.

“There’s two clubs definitely interested and whether any more come to the table on the back of this I don’t know.

“At the moment he has good options. It’s thoroughly deserved because of what he’s done here.

"The last two or three days have been more challenging. It’s very easy to say don’t get your head scrambled but he’s a young man.

‘He’s a really good boy Josh. I can’t speak highly enough of him as a person and he’s handled it well to date.

"But for all concerned, us as a club and more Josh as a young man, I think we need it concluded one way or the other. If he ends up staying then fantastic. If he doesn’t then he goes with my best wishes.”

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