Kevin Nisbet: Hibs striker to see specialist over fears injury ‘could be longer' than season-ending

Hibs manager Shaun Maloney has urged injured striker Kevin Nisbet to throw everything into coming back as an even better player.

Kevin Nisbet gets a pat from Hibs manager Shaun Maloney after going off injured against Celtic. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The 24 year-old suffered a knee injury in last weekend’s match against Celtic and scans confirmed that his season is over but, awaiting a final diagnosis, the Scotland striker will now meet with a London specialist to see how long he will be sidelined.

“We will know the exact details by Tuesday or Wednesday. It doesn’t look good,” said the Leith gaffer.

“We know his season is done and we have to prepare for it being longer than that.

“It is going to be a really big hurdle for Kevin to overcome but if the injury is what we think then other players have had similar injuries and come back even better so Kevin’s mindset at the moment has to be that whatever hurdle, whatever length of time it takes, he comes back a better player.

“In the couple of months that I have been here there has been a big increase in Kevin’s performance levels, particularly out of possession.

“So he has to ensure that however long it is, this becomes a hurdle that he overcomes.”

In Nisbet’s absence, the pressure is on Christian Doidge.

“What we have to do is really push Christian. He was a really good striker in this league, but he had a difficult injury at the start of the season. We have to get him back to a place where he’s at his very best form.

“Also, with Elias [Melkersen] coming on against Dundee and having a positive impact, his progression is in a really good place.”

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