Ivan Sproule moves closer to Hibs return

The 30-year-old, who has been told by current club Bristol City that he can leave at the end of the season, has had talks with Calderwood this week. Although Sproule is keeping his options open at present, he is eager to get back to playing regular first-team football after falling out of favour at Ashton Gate last year.

"I'm looking to sort out my future now," Sproule told The Scotsman yesterday. "My agent and I will be talking to a number of clubs and I would like Hibs to be one of them. I've a great affection for the club and they're developing in the right way. I would never rule it out, because they're a fantastic club. We'll see how things work out."

Hibs are short of wingers at present, with 20-year-old Danny Galbraith the only one in the first-team squad. Like Sproule, Calderwood refused to commit himself when asked if he wanted the Northern Irishman back at Easter Road, but did suggest he had the right qualities.

"He's a player who has been at Hibs before and it doesn't take a genius to work out that people who have played in Scotland might come back more easily than someone who hasn't," Calderwood said. Behind that non-committal public stance, however, the Hibs manager is privately more enthusiastic about signing a player who quickly became a fans' favourite after joining the Edinburgh club, then managed by Tony Mowbray, in 2005.

Shortly after he was signed, Sproule came off the bench at Ibrox to score a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Rangers. Later that season he scored at the same venue as Hibs won by the same score in the Scottish Cup. He was part of the team which beat Kilmarnock 5-1 in the 2007 League Cup final, and played for Hibs almost 100 times before joining Bristol City for an estimated 500,000.