Hibs keeper Graham Stack left to sweat over latest injury

Stack fears he is facing another lengthy lay-off after being caught late by Hamilton's Mark McLaughlin during the first half of Hibs 2-1 win at New Douglas Park in what was only his fifth game following a near six-month battle to overcome a back problem,

But today Easter Road boss Colin Calderwood revealed medics won't be able to assess the full extent of the 29-year-old's injury for at least another week.

While the immediate diagnosis was that Stack had suffered a "sore one", the damage to his right shoulder causing Hibs' own doctor concern on the night, he'll have to wait until the swelling goes down before an accurate determination can be made.

Calderwood said: "Until then we won't know how bad, how serious, how soon or how long. The first report was to bring him back in a week and we'll have the full information then."

Although Stack appeared to have established himself as Calderwood's No 1 in recent weeks, his return to action coinciding with Hibs stringing together five successive SPL wins, the manager, who also has Graeme Smith, Mark Brown and new signing Jakub Divis at his disposal, insisted there was no pecking order as far as his goalkeepers were concerned.

While Brown held the gloves when Calderwood replaced John Hughes in the Easter Road hotseat last October and went on to play 21 matches, he hasn't featured at all since the 3-0 defeat by Celtic in mid-January.

Smith took over for the following four matches as Hibs remained winless before making way for Stack but was his injured team-mate's replacement against Accies having been on the bench in recent weeks as Brown has sat in the stand.

While it would seem certain Smith will be in goal for tomorrow's clash with St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, Calderwood would only say: "He has a chance."

While insisting he hasn't been employing a "rotation" system with his goalkeepers, Calderwood said: "There is no pecking order, I felt this was the best way use the situation. I have goalkeepers and I wanted a look at them all. They have all had their time.

"Stack is now injured so we have a decision to make but there is no real pecking order."

Like Smith, Stack is out of contract at the end of the season but Calderwood hinted his latest injury won't count against him, saying: "I think he has done terrific, it will have an effect, but it is not going to be detrimental."

Meanwhile, Hibs Under-19 side will stage a dress rehearsal for their SFA Youth Cup semi-final againsst Rangers later this month when they face the Ibrox youngsters in a League match at East Mains tomorrow (kick-off noon).