Hibernian head coach Jack Ross hopes he can add to his squad quickly as he sweats on a potentially significant injury blow for Christian Doidge.
The striker missed Thursday’s Europa League defeat in Rijeka after suffering an injury in training in Croatia which Ross admitted did not look good.
Hibs were also missing Paul Hanlon with concussion and the central defender is likely to sit out Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup tie against Kilmarnock at Easter Road.
Scott Allan could return after being unavailable in Croatia but Ross is still missing Chris Cadden, Melker Hallberg and Sean Mackie and he feels he is lacking depth in his squad.
“We know the areas of the squad that we still need depth and quality in and we are trying to push to do that,” he said.
“Maybe Thursday night brought it to the forefront of people’s attention how quickly we need to do it.
“You are going to pick up fatigue and niggles and then you are going to be unfortunate to pick up ones that are more serious, which might be the case with Christian.
“If that is the case then that’s a big blow for us and something we need to evolve the squad to deal with as well.”
Central defence is a case in point with Ross only having untried 17-year-old Jack Brydon on the bench when Darren McGregor’s red card in Rijeka left Ryan Porteous as the sole central defender on the park.
“I have wanted one for a long time, for this reason,” Ross said. “When you only carry three in the squad then it limits you, and these things can happen.
“Paul’s injury is unfortunate and then Darren’s sending-off means the only recognised central defender we had left in the squad was Jack Brydon.
“He is a very young man and it would be unfair to throw him into that environment. He needs to go and progress his career before he gets to that stage.
“It maybe highlights the need for it but it has certainly not changed my thinking that I have had for a long time that we need cover and competition in those areas.”
