Lee Johnson is sweating on the fitness of Kevin Nisbet as he admits he won’t stop the striker making his switch to English football in the summer.
The Hibs boss was pleased to keep the striker who U-turned on a £2.4million move to Millwall last week and was also subject of a bid from Wigan at the last minute with former boss Shaun Maloney trying to pinch the attacker.
But when the window reopens in the summer he fully expects there to be rekindled interest and Johnson won’t stop the Scotland squad man realising his dream. But before then he just wants to get the best out of Nisbet as he waits to discover the extent of a hamstring injury that could mean two weeks out – or two months.
READ MORE: Three things we learned as Hibs draw deadline day Dingwall ding-dong with Kevin Nisbet injury blow
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Johnson, who will make a decision on former Aberdeen defender Mikey Devlin next week after the free agent joined on trial, said: “We have to do the right thing on Kevin. He’s a quality striker and there will be a lot of interest in him. Players want to go down south because there are riches there and they feel the Premier League is the best league in the world.
"Most players at this level have that dream and if they can realise that dream then they fancy it. Hopefully we’ve caught Kevin’s injury early enough and it won’t be too long.”
Johnson is running the rule over Devlin following the 29-year-old centre-back’s departure from Fleetwood. He said: “He’s had his injury issues but we think we’re quite good at dealing with return to play and keeping guys fit.
“He’s looking at us and we’re looking at him. But at the minute it’s nothing more than that.”
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