Hibs stars walk suspension tightrope for final game against Motherwell

FOUR Hibs players will go into Thursday night's final match against Motherwell walking a suspension tightrope, just one booking away from missing the start of next season, it was revealed today.

Easter Road boss Mixu Paatelainen is already without Ian Murray and Martin Canning for the visit of the Lanarkshire outfit, the pair automatically banned following their red cards at Celtic Park.

Murray will also have to sit in the stand on August 9 – the opening day of the new SPL season – a one-match suspension carried over after he also went through the disciplinary points limit. But striker Colin Nish will be hit with a three-game suspension which will kick in next season should he receive a yellow card, while team-mates Chris Hogg, John Rankin and Filipe Morais will all have their fingers crossed they don't fall foul of referee Charlie Richmond as they'll also find themselves banned if they are booked.

Today Paatelainen admitted he'll be giving the situation close consideration over the next few days, the Hibs manager also balancing a desire to finish the season on a high with a win which, hopefully, would see his side move up to fourth place in the table.

He said: "It is important when we start next season we have as many players as possible available. We do not want, if we can, to risk anyone's availability."

Paatelainen and his players had hoped – having worked hard from coming from eighth place in the table in mid-January – that Thursday night's clash would be a winner-takes-all showdown for the one remaining UEFA Cup spot, a dream which was dashed as Motherwell beat Aberdeen 24 hours before Hibs went down to Celtic.

But, nevertheless, Paatelainen insisted both he and his players were still looking forward to the match.

He said: "There's no such thing as a meaningless match.

"We are professionals and want to win every game. Everyone is looking forward to it, it should be a good game.

"All the matches we have had against Motherwell have been good games, they are playing well, they drew with Rangers at the weekend and beat Aberdeen before that.

"Unfortunately Thursday won't be the UEFA Cup decider we had hoped for but Motherwell have been pretty consistent throughout the season and that's the reason they've taken that European spot.

"For us, I am hoping we go out and give a performance which brings a victory which would be nice for the fans and then come back next season looking to be more consistent and to be in a stronger position in the final few weeks."

Meanwhile, Paatelainen was today mulling over whether to take his interest in midfielder Craig Rocastle any further. The former Hibs star spent four days training with his old club having been released by Port Vale but has now returned to England to await developments.

Paatelainen said: "Craig's return was planned, he had to go back. He has plenty of attributes but these things are never entirely in your own hands, players often have other options they want to consider so we'll have to wait and see."