Mixu will use break to get key Hibs men fit

MIXU PAATELAINEN today admitted the international break has come at the ideal time for Hibs as they try to rid themselves of injury for the first Edinburgh derby of the season.

The Easter Road manager revealed this week that Chris Hogg is unable to train because of problems with his vision and headaches, while Ian Murray has been playing through the pain barrier after a heavy knock against Rangers ten days ago.

However, with Scotland in action against Norway at Hampden this weekend in a vital World Cup qualifier, the Hibs players have the luxury of a few more days to recover before resuming their SPL campaign against Hearts a week on Sunday.

Hogg sustained his head knock in the Co-op Insurance Cup defeat to Morton and has struggled with double vision and pain since then to the point that the defender ruled himself out of Saturday's 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The player will not train at all this week but will be assessed when the players return from the international break and resume his normal fitness routine on Monday.

Murray, meanwhile, suffered a leg knock in the first half of the game against Rangers, although he was able to play the full 90 minutes against Jimmy Calderwood's men.

His leg is now heavily bruised and Paatelainen conceded that the extra few days' rest this weekend will help him enormously.

The Hibs boss said: "The rest this weekend is very important for my players and it is vital that we make the most of it.

"Everyone knows that we came back to pre-season training and to playing matches very early in the summer," Paatelainen went on.

"We have got a few players who have knocks and the free weekend will benefit them. Chris Hogg won't train this week at all and he really needs a proper rest from everything, including training.

"That's the only way to resolve a problem like that and obviously you can't be too careful with that kind of injury.

"We will get him back to training at the start of the week and hopefully by then everything will be back to normal.

"Ian Murray is another one, although he played at the weekend. He took a knock against Rangers and his leg is really bruised now – which is a good sign – so it is good for him to have a break as well to allow his leg to recover properly."

With the first team out of action, Paatelainen will cast an eye over the rest of his options in a closed-door game which has been arranged for him to see on-trial goalkeeper Khalid Sinouh in action at Livingston tomorrow afternoon.

Players like Paul Hanlon and Filipe Morais have found themselves in reserve-team action more often than not in recent weeks, but Paatelainen insisted that they are still firmly in his plans for the upcoming derby, adding: "These players are always in my mind because every single one of them applies themselves in the correct manner in training and in games.

"They are never out of my plans but I can only choose 11 players at a time and we have got a few options available to us right now.

"But competition is good for the side and they all have a chance of being involved in the derby."