David Gray has shared how Hibs defender Marvin Ekpiteta suffered a bizarre training ground injury that could keep him sidelined for up to 10 weeks.
Ekpiteta was signed in the summer after his contract at Blackpool expired. He signed a three-year deal and was immediately installed as first choice centre-back alongside Warren O’Hora.
The 29-year-old started the first 12 Premiership games of the season for Hibs but has missed the last two games against Dundee and Aberdeen.
It was made aware Ekpiteta had an injury but it wasn’t exactly clear how he had suffered it and how long he would be out for.
Now, Gray has delivered some unfortunate details as he spoke to the press ahead of Hibs’ trip to Motherwell on Saturday.
Marvin Ekpiteta Hibs injury update
Asked how long Ekpiteta could be injured for, Gray replied: “We don’t know exactly, but it’s a number of weeks, so it’ll be eight weeks, ten weeks, something like that. It is quite a significant injury, unfortunately.
“He will absolutely be missed. He maybe had a bit of a tough start, adapting to Scottish football. Just the challenges of playing, and even just the two games back-to-back against Celtic. That’s a bit of a baptism of fire for someone coming fresh into the league.
“But I think since then, he’s defended really well and really settled into the team. And it’s a big blow for him because, as you say there, he was really finding his feet in this league.”
Gray explains ‘innocuous’ injury
Asked how Ekpiteta did it, Gray answered: “It was a really innocuous one in training, just a simple ten-yard pass.
“He stepped into the ball, went to pass it, and unfortunately just overstretched his thigh, which is unfortunate.
“One thing is, is he’s very positive. You can’t worry about things you can’t affect moving forward. So he’s been as positive as he can to try and get back as quickly as he can.”