Ross hopeful Doig will make trip to face Saints
HIBERNIAN head coach Jack Ross admits he is hoping to have highly-rated wing-back Josh Doig back from injury for this weekend’s trip to Betfred Cup winners St Johnstone.
The 18-year-old missed out on Saturday as the Leith club suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at home to Motherwell after failing to recover from a kick in the win over Hamilton seven days earlier.
Club stalwart Lewis Stevenson stepped in but was one of three players replaced immediately after Devante Cole doubled the Steelmen’s lead at the start of the second.
Doig had only just signed a new deal that runs until summer 2025 last Friday having impressed in his breakthrough campaign. And Ross is keeping his fingers crossed that the teenager will be available for the trip to McDiarmid Park.
He said: “Josh is okay. He got a minor knock last weekend and he actually trained in the early part of the week but there was a slight recurrence of it. But all being well he will be back for next weekend.
“It was a lower leg impact injury, nothing muscular, just a kick. Hopefully he will be back next week because he has been good for us and has been in good form.”
Ross, meanwhile, insists a run of three successive away matches before the split is not a daunting prospect for his players. Ross, whose team face Saints, Ross County and Livingston, added: “We know how good we have been away from home this season, consistently.
“We haven’t lost at any of the grounds we are going to over these three games so that doesn’t hold any fear for us. We will need to do things better than we did on Saturday.”
JORDAN JONES is determined to prove his worth and get up to speed at Sunderland to aid their League One promotion push this term.
The winger has yet to start a game for the Black Cats following his loan move from Rangers last month but he netted his first goal for Lee Johnson’s side during the draw with Crewe at the weekend.
Chris Maguire was also on target for fifth-placed Sunderland and Jones knows he has a fight on his hands to dislodge former Celtic star Aiden McGeady from a starting berth this term.
Jones said: “I think it [the message from Johnson] was just to try and come on and create a goal or score goals and I think all the subs did really well. Obviously me and Chrissy will get the plaudits because of the goals, but every one of the subs was really bright and brought the energy that we needed.
“The team has been flying – there’s no sign of me spitting my dummy out because I’m not playing or anything like that,
“McGeady has been top class and he’s linking up with Charlie really well, so I understand I have to wait for my chance.
“I got my chance and I feel like I’ve come on and done well, and the most important thing is we got the point to take home.
“It is hard to go out every week and be top class. McGeady is the one in front of me and he has been top class.
“I’ve come to this club really lacking match fitness and I’ve put in and out the first few weeks, which I think has probably helped me fitness-wise.
“I’ve come on and shown I’m a lot fitter and a lot sharper on my mind. Hopefully I can play some more minutes now, but everyone is just focused on winning as many games as we can.”