Hibs blow as Alex Harris ruled out with broken foot

ALEX Harris will be out of action for up to three months after it was confirmed he has broken a bone in his foot.

The Hibernian midfielder sustained the damage in Sunday’s home defeat by Motherwell, and yesterday manager Pat Fenlon confirmed the expected lengthy absence.

“The x-ray came back and he’s got a small, little crack,” Fenlon said. “He’s going to be out for, I would think, three months. Two to three months definitely, so it’s a bit of a blow for us.

“It’s a blow more for him than anything, because he’s getting into the first team and getting a run of games. Just disappointing for him, because he’s been a real spark for us at times.

“He’s not in plaster at the moment. It’s still fairly badly swollen, and even when he had the x-ray nothing really showed up, so that shows you how bad the swelling us. But it’s come down a little bit.

“He had a scan yesterday, so he needs to go back in and speak to the surgeon and physio and see what the way forward for him is.

“When I watched it, his foot is actually planted in the ground and the way the weight has come down, with his foot planted that way, has done a bit of damage.”

Fenlon still hopes to sign former Celtic player Paddy McCourt, who has been training with Hibs, but said there was now no chance of re-signing midfielder Jorge Claros. “Paddy’s been training all week and was in today again. There’s nothing going to happen with Paddy at the moment. He’s a player we’d love to have, but it has to be right from his point of view and ours to make it happen.”

Claros said this week he wants to come back to Hibs, but Fenlon ruled that out. “At the end of last season we tried to make it happen and it didn’t. He’s a great lad, I felt for him at the end of the season because he wanted to be here, but, if he’s not our player, we don’t have too much control over the situation.”

Taken from the Scotsman