Hibs lift lid on Elie Youan status after two-week break - 'hopefully he'll be in a better place'

Youan made his first league start of the season earlier this month against St Johnstone, but was hooked at half time after an ineffective display. The ex-Nantes man spent the summer dealing with transfer speculation plus an injury during the Premier Sports Cup group stages, and was then racially abused online by a Hibs supporter.

The 25-year-old still remains part of Gray’s first-team plans and when it was put to the head coach that Youan was a bit off the pace against Saints, Gray responded: “I think you're right in what you say. That was his first game for a while. He wasn't probably at the level that he thinks he can be – or what we know he can be. And then we took him off at half time. It's been a long time out for him.

“He’s been good in training. He's someone that works hard. He's very driven to be the best he can be. You can see how good he is athletically. And I think In training ever since then he's been trying his best to try and put himself in a place to get on the team. He's been out for a long period of time.

“We played a bounce game during that break, which meant we could get more minutes for him, alongside a lot of other players. So he got some more minutes into the legs - and hopefully he'll be in a better place to be available for this weekend.

“I think confidence is one thing. When you've been out for a while you tend to be a little bit rusty as well. I think it's hard to get match fit without playing games. You can try and replicate in training as much as you can. But there's no other feeling or experience you can get to match going and playing the game.

“So the positive side for him is he's been back on the grass. He's played 45 minutes competitively, plus the bounce game. And now he's had an extra two weeks training fully with the group. So as I say the break has come at a good time for individuals as well.”