Hibs sweating over Zemmama injury

The little Moroccan lasted just 11 minutes of his comeback match against Falkirk following a four game absence with a hamstring problem, the 25-year-old being forced to limp off following a challenge from the Bairns' Marc Twaddle. Zemmama will undergo a scan on his left knee today with boss John Hughes hoping for good news on a player he believes has a massive part to play in Hibs' drive to overhaul United and take third place in the SPL table.

It's been a frustrating season for Zemmama who has started just 15 matches and managed to finish only five of them following his return from a year on loan in the Middle East.

While the initial diagnosis was that Zemmama had taken little more than a painful blow with "not too much" swelling around the joint, Hughes admitted the star's latest injury was a concern.

He said: "I really feel for the wee guy, he's not had much luck at all this season. He's been dogged by that hamstring and a touch of sciatica coming down his back.

"My heart sank when I saw him being helped off but, fingers crossed, the scan won't show any serious problems. We need Zouma, when you are an opposition player and see his name on our teamsheet you know you are in for a difficult time.

"Zouma has that talent, someone capable of producing something out of nothing. You can feel the frustration in him having come back to the club following his year away so it's been highly disappointing for him and everyone at the club that he's endured such a season."

While Hughes anxiously awaited news on Zemmama, the Hibs manager was hoping midfield anchorman Kevin McBride will be fit to face United, two points ahead of the Easter Road side following their weekend win over Motherwell.

McBride sat out the 3-1 win over his old club having had six stitches inserted in his ankle following the Scottish Cup defeat by Ross County.

Hughes said: "There was a lot of bruising. Kevin tried to train Thursday and Friday but had to pull out. He should get the stitches out today and hopefully be ready to face United."

Although admitting his side had survived a couple of "hairy moments" against the Bairns, Hughes was delighted to see his players get back on track with goals from Derek Riordan, Anthony Stokes and Sol Bamba after Mark Stewart had put Falkirk ahead.

He said: "After they scored we dominated the game for 25 minutes, scored three goals and at half-time the game was over, it was then a case of making sure we saw it out.

"There were one or two hairy moments but if we had taken our chances we might have scored another one or two."