Hibernian will be without their new signing Aiden McGeady for about two months due to an injury he picked up in the friendly against Norwich City on Sunday.
A scan has revealed that the 36-year-old winger, one of 11 players Hibs have recruited this summer, has torn again the ligament that sidelined him for most of last season at Sunderland.
McGeady appeared in all four of Hibs’ Premier Sports Cup ties, but he will miss their Premiership opener, against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, as well as a minimum of six more weeks.
The Hibs manager Lee Johnson said that the player’s recovery was more likely to take ten weeks. If it turns out be any longer than that, McGeady may not make his league debut for Hibs until December, when Scottish football emerges from its World Cup break.
“It’s a disappointing one,” Johnson said.“He’s going to be out for a sustained period of time after aggravating his previous medial ligament injury. It’s hard to put a timescale on it but it’s going to be minimum six weeks, although it probably averages about ten weeks.
“I’m disappointed for Aiden first and foremost. He’s worked extremely hard to get back to a level of fitness that is capable of performing at Premiership level and unfortunately this has happened. It’s not ideal but it’s why you have a squad. Somebody else has got to fill that void on a leadership level and a performance level. We just do our best to recover him as quickly as possible.”
Hibs have named the Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall as the side’s captain. The 37-year-old new signing, who joined the club on July 1, has been wearing the armband in the absence of their previous skipper, Paul Hanlon, who is recovering from injury.
Hibs said that Hanlon had been appointed “club captain”, and that there was also a “leadership role” for the defender Ryan Porteous, who will lead the side if neither of the other two is available.
“It’s not really a change,” Johnson said. “While it’s a new regime you’re looking to bring the best qualities of each individual to that leadership role. The fact I haven’t seen Hanlon kick a ball in anger yet and I’ve seen a lot of David Marshall over this pre-season period, it felt right.
“Paul Hanlon is a key part of the club moving forward, not just short term but medium term and potentially long term. I think it’s a great role for him with higher responsibility. He’ll be a bit of a daddy of the club, if you like, and it’s a role he can dine off for a long time if he does it well.
“The fact Ryan Porteous is going to start concentrating on that leadership element as well is important as it helps him channel that aggression into the controlled aggression we want. Also his will to win can be a positive for us.”