Hibs boss hopes Bamba will face Ross County

The big defender was forced to quit Saturday's victory over Kilmarnock after injuring his shoulder in a seventh-minute collision with Cameron Bell which saw the Rugby Park goalkeeper carried off on a stretcher.

The Ivory Coast star bravely attempted to play on but had to admit defeat before the half-hour mark as he made way for Paul Hanlon, raising fears over his availability for the visit of County, who turned up the heat on Dundee in the race for the First Division title with a home win over Raith Rovers.

Today, however, Hughes disclosed the injury wasn't as serious as first feared and, in a further boost, he revealed Moroccan playmaker Merouane Zemmama, who sat out what was Hibs' first win in six matches with a hamstring problem, should also be fit.

The Hibs boss said: "Sol might have played on but you could see he was in pain and struggling to get his arm above his shoulder.

"Hopefully, by getting him off when we did we prevented him doing any further damage. He was in yesterday to be assessed and hopefully with a few days treatment we'll have him back on the training pitch and ready to go this weekend.

"Zouma felt his hamstring tighten slightly in training on Thursday afternoon and although we felt he might have played against Killie he's a conscientious wee guy and he's never keen to play if he isn't 100 per cent right.

"But like Sol, he should be ready for Saturday."

The news on Alan Gow, though, wasn't as good, the forward having felt his hamstring tighten early in the match which led to Abdessalam Benjelloun taking his place after just 24 minutes. Hughes believes he could be out of action for up to a month if his worst fears prove correct.

The Easter Road boss, though, was delighted to see his side end their run of five matches without a win thanks to Derek Riordan's spectacular free-kick, the striker's 100th career goal.

And he praised the fortitude of his players for refusing to let their heads go down after Benji had seen a penalty saved by Killie substitute Lee Robinson before Riordan struck.

He said: "We've been feeling as if Lady Luck has deserted us recently, we watched their goalkeeper make a few good saves including the penalty and wondered if it wasn't going to be our day again.

"But all credit to the boys for digging out the win with a goal I'm sure Derek won't forget."