Hibs boss opens door for Bamba return

Hibs boss John Hughes today opened the door for a shock return for wayward star Sol Bamba as the Easter Road outfit seek to overcome a three-goal deficit against Europa League rivals NK Maribor on Thursday.

The big defender was left out of the party which travelled to Slovenia last week after returning late from World Cup duty with the Ivory Coast in South Africa and was missing again yesterday as Hibs went down 1-0 to Carlisle United at Brunton Park.

Bamba's absence was noted by the travelling Hibs support, raising further questions about his long-term future in Edinburgh as he enters the final season of his contract.

But while insisting he was still bitterly disappointed with the 25-year-old's behaviour, when asked if Bamba's continuing absence meant he wouldn't play in the second leg of the third qualifying round, Hughes replied: "You never say never."

Bamba has been working hard but, while believing he remains a bit short both in terms of fitness and game time, Hughes said: "I've always said that Sol with the right mindset is an asset to our team.

"No-one is bigger than the club, he cannot do what he has done, he has been disrespectful and the thing that frustrates me is that you cannot come back on the Monday before a big European match and expect to be ready to go on the Thursday.

"The rest of the players came back on 1 July and have been bursting a gut since, double training sessions, doing everything asked of them and I have to be honest and true to them."

However, Hughes admitted Hibs had missed the towering presence Bamba provides and insisted he would do whatever was best for the club, revealing he wasn't "stubborn enough" to ignore Bamba saying: "We'll look at everything. take stock and see where we are."

Maribor continued their impressive start to the season with a 3-1 win over Gorica yesterday.