Hibs star Chris Cadden has likened the return of striker star Kevin Nisbet from his injury hell to a 'new signing' - with the Scotland star set to play in a green and white shirt for the first time in NINE months at the weekend.
Nisbet joined Hibs in 2020, and immediately hit the ground running at Easter Road with 18 goals in 45 games for the Leith-based side as they finished third and secured qualification to the first ever Europa Conference League qualifying stages as a result. Not only his domestic endeavours were impressive; Nisbet accrued 10 caps for Scotland and scored against the Netherlands prior to Euro 2020.
But after injuring himself in a clash against Celtic's Carl Starfelt last February, Nisbet has not featured a single minute since, something which Lee Johnson 's men have definitely felt the effects of. And, with his return expected this weekend in a friendly against English outfit Middlesbrough, Cadden could not hide his excitement at the return of his team-mate following the lengthy lay-off.
Cadden said: “Losing Nizzy [Nisbet] for that period of time has been huge. I’ve been so impressed with him ever since I came here, how good he is as a player and his goal-scoring and how he trains. He’s come back from his injury and it’s like he’s never been away. He’s looked absolutely brilliant.
“We don’t want to put him under too much pressure, because he’s coming back from a long-term knee injury and it’s going to take time. But he’s going to be like a new signing for us because of how good he is.
“His goals are massive but with his hold-up play and playing 1-2s and things like that he’s huge. He’s a great, great player and getting him back will be brilliant. This break is coming at a good time for him as well because he’s back in training and he can get some minutes in his legs in the friendlies we’ve got.
“He’s desperate to come back. He loves football and he loves scoring goals. A Nizzy who is desperate to play and who has something to prove will be fun to watch.”
While Nisbet eyes a competitive comeback in the first game back against Rangers in three weeks’ time, it remains to be seen for how long Hibs will be missing the talismanic Martin Boyle. Boyle succumbed to his knee injury to bow out of the World Cup at the weekend and Cadden admits his club team-mates are gutted for their pal.
The Australia star remains in Qatar as a ‘vibe manager’ for the Socceroos. But Cadden feels the flying winger’s contribution on the pitch should not get lost amongst his cheeky persona off it.
And he admits the Easter Road side will need to work hard to fill the void if Boyle is out for any length of time. He said: “Martin will bounce back from this.
“He’ll come back, he’ll do his rehab and he’ll get back for Hibs, first and foremost, and that’s how he gets into the international team. I’ve got no doubts that Boyley will be fine.
“If any team loses a player like Martin you’re going to miss him but it’s up to us as players to fill the gap. It’s going to be hard, Boyley is a top, top player, and his numbers of goals and the impact he has on the game is something that any team would miss if he’s not there.
“When I heard rumours he was coming back to Hibs I was buzzing to get that partnership back again on the right-hand side. I love playing with him. Some of the work he does off the ball is something he doesn’t get enough credit for. His running stats are incredible.”
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