Hibees trio ruled out for big kick-off

Striker Sodje, as the Evening News revealed, has been ruled out for up to six weeks with medial knee ligament damage but now he will be joined on the sidelines by his team-mates as the Easter Road side pay a high price following their pre-season friendly with Livingston.

Hart and Scott limped out of that match in the first half with ankle and Achilles injuries respectively while Sodje was on the point of being replaced when referee Willie Collum brought the game to an end.

Adding to Calderwood's headache is the fact midfield youngster Sean Welsh will also be missing for between four and six weeks having undergone an operation this week on the cheekbone fractured in a training ground bust-up with Scott.

Right-back Hart and midfield star Scott haven't trained since the trip to West Lothian 11 days ago but will begin their rehabilitation at the start of next week.

However, the fact they'll have missed Hibs' final three pre-season matches, against East Fife, today's friendly with Barnsley and Tuesday night's clash at Falkirk will see them miss the opening game of the season, the visit of Celtic a week tomorrow.

It's the loss of Sodje, scorer of six goals in 13 starts following his January move from Charlton Athletic, which will be causing Calderwood the greatest concern, his absence leaving only Garry O'Connor as a proven striker.

Calderwood, who had previously admitted his strikeforce needed strengthening, has moved to compensate, taking former Celtic striker Cillian Sheridan and, as the Evening News again disclosed, Ghanaian hitman Junior Agogo on trial.

Sheridan scored while playing as a trialist against East Fife and was due to play again in today's match against Barnsley with Calderwood hopeful he'd also get the green light to field Agogo at some stage in the game.

And Calderwood has his fingers crossed he'll be able to tempt Sheridan, who is seeking a move from Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia, to sign on at Easter Road and, although the Republic of Ireland forward's wages may prove to be a stumbling block, a loan deal may be the way forward.

He said: "I've told Cillian we are very interested in doing something. The parameters were set out to his agents and I'm sure they'll relay that back to his club. We'll see where that takes us but I'd imagine Cillian will have to travel back there in the first instance so I cannot see anything being concluded over the weekend."

Calderwood also underlined it was business as usual as far as he was concerned, despite the continuing speculation linking him with becoming Chris Hughton's assistant at Birmingham City, revealing he'd travelled south last night to see a possible signing target in action.

Insisting the speculation was "part and parcel" of football and only became a problem if it began to have an effect on his players which, he claimed, it hadn't, he added: "The situation has not changed."

Meanwhile, Calderwood revealed he won't be moving to replace Derek Adams, his assistant having returned to become manager of Ross County once again, adamant he was happy enough with the support he'll receive from coaches Alistair Stevenson, Gareth Evans and Scott Thomson.

He said: "We are not going to take anyone in that position. Alistair, Gareth and Scott all have good experience. I've had lots of people ring up inquiring but I am very comfortable with the group we have."