Shaun Maloney reveals minimum timescale for Kevin Nisbet's 'devastating' injury after Hibs draw blank

Shaun Maloney has described the loss of Kevin Nisbet as “devastating" after it was confirmed the Hibs striker will miss the rest of this season at least.

Nisbet sustained a knee ligament injury during the goalless draw against Celtic on Sunday. He missed the 0-0 draw with Dundee at Dens Park and won’t feature for Hibs again during the current campaign.

“I think we will find out how serious it is in the next couple of days when he goes to see an expert,” said the Hibs manager. “It looks like surgery will be needed.

“We will find out the timescale in the next couple of days. It is definitely season done. We will find out if it is any longer in the next couple of days.

Kevin Nisbet goes off injured against Celtic at Easter Road. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

“It is a big blow. I would never tell the national manager who to pick but he was definitely coming into contention again with his form and his work rate was really starting to have a big impact on the team out of possession.

“It is devastating for him, for us as a team and the club. It’s not been a good couple of days.”

Some relief was provided by a hard-earned point at Dens Park even if Hibs did ultimately drop fifth in the league.

The visitors held on after defender Rocky Bushiri was sent off after 58 minutes when his arm struck Paul McGowan in the face.

Hibs manager Shaun Maloney with Kevin Nisbet after the striker went off injured against Celtic. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Maloney was unsure about the incident when he spoke to press afterwards. “I have only seen one angle,” he said. “Our analyst was on the other side. I couldn’t quite see what happened. Obviously it changed the dynamic of the game.

“Even with that I was really happy with the performance. I think we were a little bit tentative in the first half in the final third. We could have been more incisive. But after that, and after going down to ten, I thought some of the individual performances were excellent. I think this could turn out to be a very good point.”

Maloney confirmed that in addition to Bushiri’s suspension, no currently injured and ill players – Hibs were missing as many as ten for the trip to Dundee – will be back in time for this weekend’s home clash with St Johnstone at a sold-out Easter Road.

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