Tykes will be a good test, says Hibs star Sproule

Ivan SPROULE believes Saturday's match against English Championship side Barnsley will give boss Colin Calderwood the chance to judge just how well prepared Hibs are for the start of the new SPL season.

The visit of the Tykes will be the only home game before title hopefuls Celtic arrive in the Capital a week on Sunday and represents the Easter Road outfit's toughest pre-season test.

Calderwood's side have already faced Berwick Rangers, Livingston and East Fife, but Barnsley represent a significant step up in quality. Now under new boss Keith Hill, the Tykes head for Edinburgh having just returned from a training camp in Spain, and are a side Sproule knows well from his own time in England with Bristol City.

The winger said: "They like to get the ball down and pass it. They have a lot of good players such as Danny Haynes, who I played with at Bristol. He's a lively player and they've got others who can turn it on. The Championship is a strong league so they will be a good test for us and will let us see where we are."

Hibs complete their preparations away to Falkirk on Tuesday but, Sproule revealed, it's been difficult combining the training-ground rigours with a programme of pre-season matches.

He said: "It's been hard preparing for games because you do double sessions every day and might not have the legs going in to games, but the gaffer will be wanting to see how it gels before the big game next Sunday."

Meanwhile, Hibs' Under-19s drew 0-0 with Fredrikstad in their third match in the Jet-11 Youth International Tournament. The young Hibees now cannot qualify for the latter stages but will play Sogndal in their final game tomorrow.