Hughes says Nish didn't deserve to be dropped from Hibs starting line-up

Former Kilmarnock striker Nish had been one of Hibs' best performers in previous weeks but had to cool his heels on the bench as his side drew 1-1 with Hearts at Easter Road.

Sol Bamba's absence, due to international duty with Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations, meant a reshuffle at the back with Darren McCormack coming into the right side of defence and David Wotherspoon being pushed forward into midfield.

The reshuffle resulted in Nish, who had been playing in a deeper position in recent games, becoming the odd man out and he had to watch the 90 minutes from the substitute's bench.

However Hughes insisted that he was as disappointed as the player at having to make the decision to drop him from the starting line-up and said: "I know Colin is disappointed and, to be honest, I am disappointed for him myself because he didn't deserve to be dropped. There were a number of reasons for it and it was a very difficult decision to make.

"We were really concerned about losing his physical presence because he has done really well for us in the last few weeks, but we felt that we wanted to get Merouane Zemmama running off Anthony Stokes and at their centre halves, that was the way we thought we could win the match.

"You've got to take each match as it comes and Colin has got to take it on the chin, knuckle down and get right back in there pushing for a place again."

Bamba played as the Ivory Coast began their preparations for the African Cup of Nations with a 1-0 win over Tanzania before 60,000 fans in Dar es Salaam with a goal from Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.