Paul Hanlon to make his Hibs return

Paul HANLON is set to return to the Hibs side against Celtic on Saturday, with manager Pat Fenlon welcoming the prospect of fielding his first-choice back four for the first time in over two months.

The centre-back has sat out the last five games with a hip injury sustained at the end of February but is now back in contention as the Easter Road side prepare to head to Parkhead with their faint top-six hopes still flickering after sixth-place Kilmarnock failed to beat St Mirren last night. Hibs must beat Celtic on Saturday and hope Killie lose at home to Dundee, while Dundee United and Aberdeen draw at Tannadice.

Hanlon’s likely return comes hot on the heels of Tim Clancy making his first appearance since late January in last Saturday’s defeat by Inverness.

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Such has been the upheaval in the Hibs defence in recent months, Fenlon has been unable to send out his favoured backline of Clancy, James McPake, Hanlon and Ryan 
McGivern since a 0-0 draw at Aberdeen on January 27.

Having seen goals leaked all too easily of late, particularly since Hanlon dropped out of the team, the manager is welcoming the prospect of sending his most dependable quartet into battle against the champions-elect at the weekend. He said: “Paul’s been back training for the last week so we’ll see how he is at the end of the week and hopefully he should be okay to join the squad for Saturday. We’ve definitely missed him.

“It’ll be great to have both Paul and Tim back because they’re two big players for us.

“Paul, James, Ryan and Tim have all been out at some stage, which is not ideal because it helps when you have a settled back four that plays regularly. We’ve had to play Lewis at left-back, which is not his position.

“Injuries are just a part of the game you have to deal with as best you can. Sometimes you get a run when you don’t get injuries and other times you get them all in the one area of the pitch and, unfortunately, that’s happened with our defenders.”

After a run of only one win in 11 league games since the turn of the year, Hibs look set to finish a season which promised so much in the bottom six, with even a win at Parkhead unlikely to lift them into the top half.

Fenlon knows plenty fans and pundits will deem the season a failure unless Hibs can winthe Scottish Cup. However, he would rather critics look at the bigger picture.

He said: “It’s for other people to judge whether the focus should be on recent results or the fact there has been an improvement this season. I’ve got my own feelings on that and I know where we are as a club compared to where we were. I know results recently haven’t been good enough. But over the course of the season, it’s been okay, there’s definitely been an improvement.”

Meanwhile, striker Eoin

Doyle, one of Fenlon’s first signings at Hibs, will join Chesterfield in the summer after agreeing a pre-contract with the English League Two side.