Paul Heckingbottom has revealed Martin Boyle is edging closer to a Hibs return after his second knee operation.
The winger has been sidelined since July having suffered a recurrence of the same issue which forced him to miss half of last season.
Boyle went under the knife again and has been slowly working his way towards full fitness.
Heckingbottom admits the winger is "still some way" off featuring for the first team but insists he's closer than the likes of David Gray, Vykintas Slivka and Darren McGregor.
Gray too is recovering from a knee injury, Slivka is nursing a broken bone in his ankle while Slivka has a pelvic problem.
And the Hibs boss said: "It’s still slow.
“Vicky’s still feeling it. Boyler I had in to do some one-on-one coaching with him last Friday, so he’s progressing to get him back on the grass.
“Obviously he’s some way from playing or featuring but the quicker we get him back on the grass with the rest of the players, the better.
“He’ll get fitter quicker and he’ll be working with the boys. It’ll be good for him and it’ll be good for us to have him back.
“He’s probably the closest. Darren’s progressing slowly but we’ll be led by his symptoms. David’s still in the gym at the minute."
Heckingbottom issued a challenge to his under-performing squad after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Hamilton on Saturday stretched their winless Premiership run eight games.
He added: “It’s up to the guys playing now to nail down the shirt and stay in the team. Whilst there’s still good performances from good players there and we’re frustrated not winning the game, we might change the team around again.
“What I want to see is more drive and desire from people to get in the box and be the one to score the goal.”
