Hibs to take on Middlesbrough as development squad gets another cross-border run-out

The Easter Road side ran out 3-1 winners against a young Newcastle United XI in a similar match last month, with Allan Delferrière netting a hat-trick to clip the Magpies’ wings. The Belgian-born midfielder could well feature against Toon’s north-east neighbours this week as he continues his impressive performance for Hibs’ second-string side.

Boro currently occupy seventh in the Premier League 2 Division 2 – the second tier of academy football in England – and lost 3-1 to Leeds in their most recent fixture. The squad that travels north to Ormiston will likely be made up of players from Middlesbrough’s under-21 team with a sprinkling of older players.

Speaking in May last year, Hibs academy chief Steve Kean outlined his reasons for wanting Hibs to face teams from England, explaining: “Sometimes when we play games here, everybody knows everybody else; the players know the players in the other team. Playing games against under-23 sides [from England] is a big step to pushing our youngsters in a different direction.”

Hibs have in previous years played Huddersfield Town both at home and away, and have already faced development teams from Arsenal, Chesterfield, Newcastle, and Sheffield United this season but a planned trip to face an Everton side at the Toffees’ Finch Farm base later this month is understood to have been cancelled.

The Easter Road development side lifted the SPFL Reserve League trophy last month with a resounding 6-0 victory against Queen of the South at Palmerston Park in their final match of the campaign. Hibs won seven and drew two of their nine matches, finishing with 23 points and scoring 21 times, conceding just four.

Meanwhile, Hibs drew 2-2 with St Mirren in Paisley in the second of their CAS Elite Under-18 League double header last week. Dean Cleland scored both goals for the wee Hibees, netting the opener to put Hibs ahead before the hosts scored from two corner routines to turn the game on its head. However, Cleland levelled the game with his second when he converted Rudi Molotnikov’s cutback. Defender Owen Hastie was sent off for Gareth Evans’ side after the final whistle.