Positive Hibs injury news: Updates on Demetri Mitchell, Paul Hanlon, Kyle Magennis, Kevin Nisbet and Momodou Bojang
With no new injuries to add to the sicklist after the first two competitive games of the season, the Hibs manager is focusing on the good news that he will have one newcomer to add to the squad for the trip to Bonnyrigg Rose in the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday, now that Momodou Bojang has been added to the pack, and he says he expects those numbers to swell in the coming weeks as old faces return to full fitness.
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Hide Ad"I feel that we're in a good place with the four injured players,” said Johnson. “It's all best-case scenario; there haven't been many set-backs.
"Demetri's out and moving about and looks like he's moving well; Paul Hanlon is the same and it looks like we'll be able to integrate them into one or two parts of the sessions early next week.
"Kevin has a different timeline but is in a really good place as well. Kyle Magennis is also in a good place, probably slightly behind the first two in terms of the chronological order of them coming back, but in a very good place nonetheless.
"In my mind, although they're in the squad, they will be like new signings when they're back and we've got an element of versatility in them as well.
"The fact that we haven't had any new injuries is really positive. I think a sign of the work we've done is that touch wood we haven't had any muscle injuries.
"You can't really do a lot about the contact ones but any muscle injuries will end up being a black-box thinking that we can look back and review where we got it wrong.
"I'm very confident that we're moving towards a very good place.”
Although Bojang has just joined up with the squad, the pacey Gambian striker has been training hard ahead of his arrival in Edinburgh, which could earn him inclusion in the latest cup squad.
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Hide Ad“He's definitely an option,” continued Johnson. “He's in great shape physically, he's worked very hard – triple sessions every day – and he's shown a lot of hunger.
"He's probably ten-and-a-half, 11 stone so he's not carrying anything. We've just got to make sure that we learn a lot about the individual.
"We don't know yet what he can or can't handle but the more data we get in every day, the more receptive he is, the more understanding we have.
"We learn about the body with the amount of testing the boys do.
"There's a lot that goes on that's very scientific but a game like Bonnyrigg is going to be all about attitude and heart.
“It was his first full training session [on Friday] and his quality was really good. He's wiry, changes direction, he can finish.”
And, after the defeat to League One outfit Falkirk, the addition of such an enthusiastic and energetic personality can only help, according to Johnson, who is looking to see a positive reaction to the midweek setback.
“Any new player who comes through the door gives the lads a lift if they see his quality,” the manager added.