Kevin McCann still has future at Hibs, insists manager John Hughes

Hibs manager John Hughes says Kevin McCann still has a future at Easter Road despite sending the defender on loan to Inverness to kick-start his career.

The injury-jinxed right-back has joined the SPL newcomers until January in search of fitness and confidence.

McCann has made just one appearance for Hibs since May 2008 after being plagued by tendonitis in his knee which finally required surgery.

The 22-year-old, a League Cup winner in 2007, started pre-season with Hibs but Michael Hart's arrival was always going to limit his chances this term.

Hughes hopes heading north to Terry Butcher's Highlanders allows McCann - in the last year of his contract - to rediscover his fitness and form.

Speaking from the club's Dutch training base, Hughes said: "I've said to Kevin he has still got a future at Hibs but to go and get playing regular football.

"He needs to get himself going, get his confidence, and the only way you can do that is by playing games.

"We just wish him all the best in terms of injuries, as he has always been plagued with niggles and tweaks that have just set him back

"The thing he has in his favour is that he is only 22. He has to go and try and get himself in the Inverness team and enjoy it.

"It might suit him, getting away north and only concentrating on his football.

"Then we'll look at it after six months, where we are as a club and where he is as a player.

"I think Terry was prepared to do a year, but we sat down and said until Christmas."

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old midfielder Sean Welsh will fly home today for a scan to assess the extent of the damage to his knee sustained in a seemingly innocuous incident while training in The Netherlands last week.