Ivan Sproule talks to Hibs about return to Easter Road

Winger Ivan Sproule could be set for a return to Hibs this summer after opening talks with the Easter Road club.

It's thought the one-time Easter Road fans' favourite has held discussions with his former employers having been told his contract won't be renewed at English Championship outfit Bristol City when it expires this summer. Speaking last November after learning his days at Aston Gate were numbered, the Northern Ireland cap didn't rule out a return to Edinburgh and said: "I've never hidden my love for the club or the fact I am a Hibs supporter."

Sproule was linked with Hibs during the January transfer window and manager Colin Calderwood was aware of the right-sided player's availability but cited the Fifa three-club rule as the reason he could not sign the 30-year-old.

Sproule was brought to Hibs by Tony Mowbray in 2005 from Institute for just 5,000. Sproule's lightning pace quickly endeared him to the Hibs supporters and he wrote himself in the club's folklore with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Rangers in August 2005 and also played in the 2007 League Cup-winning side.