Hibs chasing ex-Villa man Osbourne

Hibs are on the trail of former Aston Villa midfielder Isaiah Osbourne as boss Colin Calderwood continues his bid to further strengthen his Easter Road squad.

Calderwood has already brought in Ivan Sproule, Garry O'Connor, Sean O'Hanlon and Junior Agogo over the course of the summer but revealed last week he had spoken to a couple more with the hope of concluding their signings quickly. Osbourne was at Easter Road on Saturday to take in Hibs' no-scoring friendly with English Premier League club Sunderland, guided to his seat by executive director Scott Lindsay who now has responsibility for negotiating player contracts.

And the 23-year-old defensive midfielder won't have to go far for advice on the SPL as his older brother Isaac signed for Aberdeen from Coventry City this season.

Born in Birmingham, Osbourne made his Premier League debut for Villa, then under the charge of ex-Celtic boss Martin O'Neill, at the age of 18 and impressed sufficiently to earn himself a three-and-a-half year contract, the deal later being extended to this summer.

However, former England Under-16 internationalist Osbourne found first-team opportunities limited, making just 26 appearances for Villa throughout that period, but enjoyed loan spells with Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday before being released by Villa.

As a free agent, the 6ft 2in star has been on trial with Leeds United, so Calderwood will want a quick decision either way from him.

Meanwhile, Hibs were today awaiting the full extent of the groin injury suffered by right back Michael Hart only five minutes into the clash with the Black Cats. Hart, who had missed much of the pre-season after damaging his Achilles while playing against Livingston, was said to be at a "low ebb" following his latest mishap.

Calderwood, predicting a lengthy lay-off, said: "It looks serious, the first indication is it will be long term. Michael just felt something 'pop' in his groin. It's a nasty one for him. He trains religiously and I really feel for him at the minute because he is at a low ebb."

David Wotherspoon was also forced to quit the action early with an ankle problem but it has yet to be decided whether he'll pull out of Wednesday's Scotland Under-21 match against Norway.