Hibs left with James Scott problem but boosted by Christian Doidge news

Christian Doidge could be a surprise inclusion in Hibs’ League Cup semi-final line-up as the influential striker continues to recover well from the Achilles injury he sustained in August but fellow frontman James Scott has been warned that he needs to work harder on his fitness to be considered for selection.

Doidge’s absence has been keenly felt by the team, who are on a four-game losing streak, and have struggled in the forward areas in recent weeks.

The industrious Welshman was injured in training ahead of the side’s European swansong in Croatia and was expected to be sidelined until the end of the year. But he has made strong progress and could be a timely boost ahead of the Hampden meeting with Rangers on November 21.

“Christian will rejoin training at the start of the international break,” said manager Jack Ross. “He won’t be available for any of the league games before then but he will possibly be in the squad for the semi-final.”

Hibs striker James Scott told to up his fitness levels if he wants to force his way back into contention. Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group

Having failed to strengthen the frontline sufficiently in the transfer window, Hibs have been left shy of options in the top end of the pitch and matters were exacerbated further on Wednesday when Scott Allan had to sit out the defeat to Celtic due to illness and the playmaker could also miss this weekend’s trip to Dingwall.

But despite the shortage of forwards, Ross has revealed that loan signing Scott is currently not up to filling the void.

The Hull City forward has made just five appearances since joining the Easter Road club this summer, the most recent a 45 minute cameo in the disappointing loss to Dundee United – a team performance Ross slammed as ‘lazy’ and ‘selfish’. The 21-year-old did not even make the squad in the games that followed, and Ross has attributed that to his fitness levels.

“He is available but he needs to be fitter. If he can do that, he will be back in contention.

“We have been hamstrung by injuries middle to front for a while now and we have fairly restricted options in that regard but you need players to be at their absolute best and the challenge for him is to get to that. If he does then he will be an asset for us.”

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