Ivory coast star Sol Bamba hits back at claim he went AWOL

HIBS star Sol Bamba has hit back at claims he has gone AWOL.

Easter Road boss John Hughes slammed the Ivory Coast defender in yesterday's Evening News for not joining the club's pre-season camp in Holland.

Yogi insisted Bamba had let the club and his team-mates down by his mystery absence but Bamba insists the Easter Road club ignored his requests for an extended break after his exploits in South Africa.

And the 25-year-old, who will return to Edinburgh this weekend, said: "I've had a whole of family and friends on the phone who have been worried something had happened to me after what they read in the newspapers.

"To be honest, I'm angry about the way the club has gone about making this public. I have never cheated anyone at Hibs, I've always given everything for the team. The manager knows that, too. I tried to speak with the manager and the chairman to explain the situation.

"Since last May, I haven't had a break and I wanted to take about three weeks off after the World Cup to recharge.

"I played something like 59 games for Hibs last season, plus the African Nations Cup and then in South Africa.

"Obviously, I didn't play at the finals, but I was training hard every day over there "Hibs were expecting me to return to Scotland barely ten days later on 12 July.

"I don't know why they now told the newspapers I was supposed to back on the 19th, I never agreed to that, either."