ROSS GETTING HIS REWARDS FOR ‘TRADES’

JACK ROSS insists he is happy to prioritise quality over quantity after hailing the way Hibernian have ‘traded’ their way to new signings.

St Mirren skipper Kyle Magennis is poised to become the latest new recruit, with his unveiling likely tomorrow after he underwent a medical at the club and watched Friday night’s 3-2 victory over Hamilton Accies.

The move will reunite the midfielder with Ross, who was previously his boss with the Buddies, and bolster a squad the Easter Road manager has characterised as ‘skinnier’.

Although Hibs have attracted criticism for shelling out transfer fees in the face of a financial crisis that necessitated discussions over cutbacks and redundancies earlier in the summer, Ross is content with the wheeling and dealing that has allowed him to freshen up his options.

‘We’re lighter in numbers this season,’ admitted Ross. ‘We’ve had to trade our way to enable us to bring other players to the club, and good quality players. We’ve made our squad skinnier to do that.

‘But I like the tightness of the numbers. It’s a brilliant group we’ve got; they’re really, really good to work with every day.

‘There’s been contributions made by players coming off the bench already or who haven’t played regularly, and it’s a squad I’ve got a lot of trust in at the moment.’

With Wednesday’s Betfred Cup tie at home to Highland League champions Brora Rangers being followed by trips to face Cove Rangers and Forfar in the competition, and then a league encounter with Ross County away from home, Ross has promised more widespread changes — with one eye on the Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts on the last day of a busy October.

‘It was always the plan to mix things up in the cup, with the way the schedule is,’ he added, ‘and this month, in particular, is busy, with a lot of travelling.

‘So, we’ll utilise the squad fully and make a lot of changes for the game on Wednesday.’