Nish to lead summer exodus from Hibs

Colin NISH will lead the summer exodus from Easter Road after being told he won't be offered a new deal at Hibs.

One of 11 players out of contract, the big striker has not started under Colin Calderwood since the end of January and has found increasingly limited opportunities in the first team since the arrival of fellow attackers Akpo Sodje and Ricardo Vaz Te this year.

Last season Nish found the net 11 times in 25 league and cup starts, but he has struck just once this term.

While he may still have a bit-part role to play in Hibs' final six games of this campaign after coming off the bench at Aberdeen last Saturday, the boyhood Hibs fan will be frustrated at having failed to maintain the fine form he carried from the end of last season, when he helped the club into Europe with a hat trick at Motherwell and a brace against Dundee United in the final two games.

Aberdeen, St Johnstone, First Division leaders Dunfermline and two English clubs are reported to be interested in the 30-year-old former Kilmarnock hitman.

Meanwhile, Hibs assistant manager Derek Adams has been handed a six-game ban by the Scottish FA disciplinary committee.

The former Ross County boss has been banned from the dugout for 14 matches already this season as punishment for offences committed while at the Dingwall club. His latest suspension, for using abusive language during January's defeat at Motherwell, is his fourth in three years.

Elsewhere, Former Hibs striker Garry O'Connor, who scored 58 goals in 166 games at Easter Road, has come to a mutual agreement to cancel his contract with Barnsley.