Hibs have confirmed that Darren McGregor will be on the sidelines for a period of time, following a recent injury in the League Cup.
The 34-year-old was subbed after 14 minutes against Morton. The club have now released a statement, saying he will miss ‘several weeks’ with an abdominal problem.
It’s another injury in the defensive department for Paul Heckingbottom to deal with. Only Adam Jackson, Sean Mackie, Paul Hanlon and Steven Whittaker have managed to escape injury so far.
Porteous’ Hibs return has to happen sooner due to another McGregor injury
McGregor struggled with injury a bit last season as well. According to Transfermarkt, he missed eight games through fitness issues.
At the age of 34, Heckingbottom probably prepared for McGregor to miss some games. The problem is that Paul Hanlon and Adam Jackson are the club’s only fully fit centre-backs.
Ryan Porteous has to be put through his paces a bit more now. The 20-year-old has been missing since the start of this year following a lengthy injury lay-off.
He is a bright young star and has featured for the Hibs development and colts sides as he prepares to return to action.
That return may have to happen sooner rather than later now. Even if it is just sub appearances initially, Heckingbottom has to get Porteous up to speed quicker. One more injury in defence and it’s a full blown crisis.
It’s an unfortunate injury for McGregor but he’ll bounce back. The priority has to be getting him back to full speed now, whilst also getting Porteous fit enough to replace him.