Hibs players given jabs to prevent mumps outbreak

Manager Alan Stubbs is determined to prevent an outbreak at the club. Picture: John Devlin

Midfielder Sam Stanton was ordered to stay away from the club after contracting the contagious illness earlier this month, but has returned to full fitness.

Tomas Cerny then succumbed to the virus and has missed Hibs’ last three matches, albeit he made his comeback for the under-20 side against Celtic on Tuesday evening.

Stubbs is adamant there is no connection between the two cases, nevertheless he is unwilling to risk a serious outbreak as the club approaches the business end of the campaign.

The club contacted NHS Scotland and, following consultations, several players have chosen to accept jabs to strengthen their immune system.

Stubbs explained: “We have offered a booster injection to all of the players to prevent any more cases in the group.

“We have been advised by the NHS in Scotland to go about it that way and we have spoken to our doctors here at the club.

“Quite a few of our players have taken a booster and hopefully that can prevent anything else from coming up. Fingers crossed, we seem to be on top of it. When you are in a close environment and everyone is working alongside each other, the risk does become greater of someone else catching it, but these seem to be isolated cases.”

Meanwhile, Stubbs is hopeful top scorer Jason Cummings could be fit enough to feature against Raith Rovers this weekend, despite withdrawing from the Scotland under-21 squad through injury.

Stubbs said: “We sent Jason for a scan on Monday and the results have been very positive.

“I’m sure that will help Jason psychologically because he had a serious cruciate injury in the past and this probably made him think a little about that.”