Aiden McGeady to hold crunch talks over Hibs future with Lee Johnson after latest injury setback

The 36-year-old will travel to London next week to see a specialist and discover if the tendon requires surgery, but regardless of the outcome he won’t kick a ball for Hibs between now and the end of the season – a bitter blow for club and player as he was finding form following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a different injury during the first half of the campaign.

The former Celtic and Sunderland attacker had contributed two assists in nine games since the turn of the year before pulling up around half an hour into the 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock. With his season now over he will have made just 14 competitive appearances in a Hibs shirt and with his contract up in the summer, there are conversations to be had about his future.

"I’m due to have a conversation with him. I know we’ve got a 36-year-old, and he hasn’t played an awful lot of football over the last 18 months, but we know he’s got that quality at the top end of the pitch,” Johnson said.

"We’d worked hard to get him fit and he’d worked extremely hard to get himself fit. A flying Aiden McGeady, probably outside games against the Old Firm, is worth a goal a game in some respects. We really just want to help him now, whatever he decides. If he wants to make a full return to playing then we’ll support that; if he decides different then we’ll support that.

"I think he’ll be spinning a few plates. He’s doing a sporting director’s course and I know he’s taking the first part of his coaching badges as well. Obviously, he’s got a lot to give in football, whether that be as a player or stepping into a new adventure.

“It’s not easy to do that. When you love playing like Aiden does, then it’s difficult to give up. I would never, ever retire a football player. It’s up to them to decide when the time is right or not.”