Hughes to bolster Hibs attack with Under-19 stars

HIBS boss John Hughes today revealed he's planning to fast track some of his Under-19 squad in a bid to beef up his attacking options.

PLAN: John Hughes is looking for striking back-up

Darryl Duffy's broken foot, along with Anthony Stokes' defection to Celtic on transfer deadline day, have left the Easter Road strikeforce lightweight, despite the arrival this week of Lithuanian hitman Valdas Trakys.

And, with only Derek Riordan and Colin Nish as recognised strikers, Trakys was on stand-by to "be thrown in at the deep end" against Hamilton today despite his lack of match fitness.

The dearth of frontmen is in stark contrast to last season when Hughes could call on Stokes, Riordan, Nish, Abdessalam Benjelloun, Merouane Zemmama and on-loan forward Alan Gow.

However, with Benjelloun and Gow having also departed and Zemmama still unlikely to feature until Christmas as he recovers from a ruptured cruciate ligament, Hughes is set to turn to the club's younger players to help fill the void, although those who may find themselves suddenly promoted are more than likely to find themselves sitting on the bench.

But Hughes believes more than a couple of them are capable of proving themselves to be "impact players" should they be introduced to the action in the later stages of matches.

He said: "When I looked at my bench last weekend I only had Danny Galbraith as an attacking option whereas I like to have three or four at my disposal.

"We always take some of our Under-19s along to bounce matches and put them on for the last 20 minutes or so. They've never let themselves down, they play with great enthusiasm and that is what we are looking for.

"It might be a bit early for them to be starting SPL matches but some of them have impressed me with their 'off the cuff' stuff which is what you are looking for in the last 15 minutes or so of matches. It's definitely something we have discussed."

Hughes is well aware some fans may question why, in such circumstances, he allowed Republic of Ireland kid Kurtis Byrne, scorer of the goals which won the Under-19 side an unprecedented League and Cup double two seasons ago, to go on loan to Second Division East Fife and why Galbraith hasn't yet earned a starting place.

However, he argued there was no crystal ball at his disposal enabling him to predict Celtic's 1.4 million move for Stokes or the injury sustained by Duffy, insisting that had circumstances been otherwise Byrne would have found the regular first team football he's now enjoying in Fife hard to come by.

He said: "I work with the players every day and Kurtis isn't ready yet to be starting the full 90 minutes for us. Where he is at the moment, Kurtis is learning his trade every week.

"You have to remember that Danny hadn't played for two years before he came here and he's still getting there. He's still a bit inconsistent but he gives you something different, energy and pace that can cause damage and, if he keeps going the way he is, then a starting place is not too far away."