Hibs boss Lee Johnson would love to find a replacement for Martin Boyle in January – but insists his priority will be offloading fringe players.
The Easter Road boss admits he has a bloated squad after bringing in 14 players in the summer with a current first-team pool of around 28 players. Boyle will miss the rest of Hibs ' season with an ACL injury picked up on World Cup duty and Johnson said: “We can do our best to replace him but he is one of our stellar signings. If this was the MLS he would be our ‘marquee’ player.
“We just can’t cope in terms of maximising ourselves without our best players fit. Every team, everywhere in the land gets injuries but if you’re lucky it’s not to your best players. It’s disappointing but at the same time it gives other players opportunities.
“With two thirds of the season to play, and a very important cup opportunity, we have that laser focus on that prime 14, 15 players and getting the best out of those. We believe in the ones we’ve got – get them physically right and make them feel a million dollars.
“The first thing we need to do is trim the squad. We’ve far too many players at the club and far too many I don’t see as infiltrating the first team over the short to medium term. It can cause problems when you have an over-inflated squad because people want to play.”
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