Jack Ross likely to block loan bids for Hibs striker Oli Shaw

Oli Shaw hits a penalty equaliser against Willem II. The striker also scored a last-minute winner in the match in Sotogrande. Picture: Ross Parker/SNS

Shaw has got no further than the bench this season but after Swiss hitman Flo Kamberi was ruled out of the friendly as a precaution having picked up a knock, he grabbed the chance with both hands, levelling from the penalty spot after Freek Heerkens had put the Eredivisie side ahead before claiming a last-minute winner.

Afterwards head coach Ross admitted other clubs, aware of the 21-year-old’s situation, were interested in having him farmed out to them but, he insisted, it was highly unlikely that would happen.

He said: “We are in a position where we don’t have a huge amount of strikers at the club, it’s probably the area we are the lightest in.

“We’ve got Jamie Gullan back after the Raith game but that’s not ruling out the possibility he might go out on loan again. We just wanted to assess where we are. We’ve only really got Florian and Christian [Doidge] as senior strikers, if you like. So we need to be careful with that, but equally we need to make sure Oli continues to develop.

“I’m pleased for him, though, because he has obviously not played a lot recently, so for him to play 90 minutes and score two goals was really good.”

Other than taking the precaution not to play Kamberi or midfielder Joe Newell for the same reason, Jack was delighted with his squad’s week on the Costa del Sol.

“It was an appropriate way to finish the week,” he said. “And it was also a wee bit of a reward for the players in terms of the work they’ve done.

“They’re a good side, you can see that with where they are in the Dutch league [4th]. We got the conditioning aspect of it and we got minutes into players who haven’t played a lot recently. And they did well. So it was the perfect way to end the week, I think.

“David Gray got minutes, which is great for him, Darren McGregor got minutes. And even seeing Steven Whittaker playing again was good, Whitts is a really good player.

“Seeing him in a different role gives me food for thought as someone who can fulfil that in different types of games.

“Overall their attitude and approach to the game was really good and it was a great way to finish the week. Florian and Joe had to miss the game but that was just a bit of fatigue from the sessions on Thursday.

“We’re looking reasonably fit and healthy at the minute, which is how you want to come out of the break.”