Luke Littler became the youngest player ever to reach the final of the World Darts Championship when he defeated Rob Cross on Tuesday.

The 16-year-old now has a shot at claiming an historic place in the sport as he takes aim at the title at Alexandra Palace.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of sport’s other teenage prodigies in recent years.

Wayne Rooney – 16 years old

Though his breakthrough moment undoubtedly came when he scored past David Seaman from 30 yards in October 2002 to end champions Arsenal’s 30-game unbeaten Premier League run, Rooney had actually made his senior Everton debut two months earlier against Tottenham, setting up a goal for Mark Pembridge in a 2-2 draw.

England’s Euro 2004 opener against France in Portugal shot him to international stardom before he signed for Manchester United later that summer, going on to become all-time top scorer for both United (253) and for England (53), though his international tally has since been surpassed by Harry Kane.

Ronnie O’Sullivan – 17

O’Sullivan became the youngest-ever winner of a ranking event when, aged 17, he beat Stephen Hendry to claim the 1993 UK Snooker Championship. Two years later, he was victorious in the 1995 Masters to add another record to his CV by the age of 19, both accolades that he still holds.

Victory in the 2022 Snooker World Championship was his eighth, drawing him level with Hendry for most wins, as he has lived up to the excitement that accompanied his arrival onto the scene more than 30 years ago to become one of the sport’s all-time greats.

Sky Brown – 13

The skateboarder became the UK’s youngest-ever Olympian when she competed at the Tokyo games aged just 13 and followed it up by becoming the country’s youngest medal winner when she took bronze in the women’s park skateboarding event.

She has continued to set records in the years since, most recently by becoming the first British winner at the skateboarding World Championships in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in February 2023.

Cesc Fabregas – 16

Fabregas became Arsenal’s youngest-ever player when he made his first-team debut in a League Cup tie against Rotherham at Highbury in September 2003 and clocked another club record when he scored his first goal in the next round in a 5-1 win over Wolves.

It was the following season though that his true breakthrough arrived, taking up a regular place in the team’s midfield aged 17 at the start of the 2003/04 season as they sought to defend the title won the previous campaign. He went on to win two league titles with Chelsea as well as the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with Spain.

Gianluigi Donnarumma – 16

AC Milan were in the midst of their decade-long barren spell when Donnarumma was thrust into the first team at the age of 16 in 2015, preferred to the veteran club legend Christian Abbiati and former number one Diego Lopez.

Standing at a height of 6ft 5in, he took up the mantel of first-choice goalkeeper with a stature that defied his young years, and the following year became Italy’s second-youngest ever goalkeeper when he made his international debut in a friendly against France. He has since helped the team to win Euro 2020 where he saved two penalties in the final shootout against England.

Teenage star Luke Littler is one win away from completing his sensational World Championship dream as he cruised into the final.

The 16-year-old has set the Alexandra Palace alight over the last fortnight and is the youngest-ever player to reach the decider of the premier darts tournament.

He is now on the cusp of producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, which would rival Emma Raducanu’s US Open win in 2021.

Littler has already proved he is the real deal but produced his biggest statement yet as he downed eighth seed Rob Cross 6-2 in stunning fashion.

He bombarded the treble-20 16 times, produced three 130-plus checkouts and averaged 106.05 in a nerveless performance.

‘The Nuke’ is trying to emulate 2018 champion Cross by lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy on debut and few would bet against him as his juggernaut looks impossible to stop.

Whatever happens in Wednesday’s final he is the story of the tournament.

He has earned celebrity status and his exploits have transcended the world of darts, already appealing to a younger generation of fans, with broadcaster Sky Sports reporting they had an 18.5 per cent share of all under-35 viewing in the UK for his New Year’s Day quarter-final win over Brendan Dolan.

He only qualified for the tournament by winning the World Youth Championship in November and his fairytale run has put the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) under pressure to hand him a place in the forthcoming Premier League.

There is more immediate work to do, though, as his attention turns to Wednesday’s showpiece.

If he performs like this he will be a heavy favourite as he outplayed Cross, who was by no means under-performing.

When Cross took the opening set on throw, it saw Littler trailing for the first time in the tournament.

The former electrician was a livewire at the oche, peppering the trebles, and put the youngster under pressure, having darts to take a two-set lead.

But Littler showed he can perform when he needs to as he took out a vital 74 to level up and then produced a majestic 142 checkout to go 2-1 in front.

He took out a mammoth 149 on his way to a 3-1 lead and then got himself into a superb position to extend that even further but missed a dart at double top.

Cross took the same score out to make it 3-2 instead of 4-1, but Littler was not perturbed, showing composure and maturity to win the next two sets and move one away from the finish line.

Littler, 19 days from his 17th birthday, showed nerves of steel to close it out in style as his dream run continues.

Weary West Ham and burned-out Brighton served up a lifeless goalless draw to dent both sides’ top-five ambitions.

Two makeshift teams were missing 16 first-team players between them through injury, illness or suspension, and in West Ham’s case also due to the Africa Cup of Nations which has cost them the services of in-form forward Mohammed Kudus for a month.

Given that it was West Ham’s ninth game in a month, and Brighton’s eighth, managers David Moyes and Roberto De Zerbi would probably have shaken hands on a draw before kick-off and gone to watch the darts instead.

As it was, 60,000 people had to battle a storm to get to the London Stadium before sitting through a match played at a snail’s pace.

It was Brighton’s first goalless draw in 48 Premier League games, their last coming against Nottingham Forest in October 2022.

There was at least something to celebrate for midfielder James Milner, whose 632nd Premier League appearance moved him level with former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs for second on the all-time list.

During an opening half an hour of new year lethargy, West Ham had a half-hearted penalty appeal waved away when Edson Alvarez tripped over Billy Gilmour’s leg. Emerson Palmieri then scuffed a shot wide.

James Ward-Prowse saw a volley well saved by Jason Steele before Jarrod Bowen’s cross was headed over the crossbar by Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Said Benrahma, left out of Algeria’s AFCON squad, was handed a rare chance by Moyes in the absence of Kudus and Lucas Paqueta and the winger made one mazy run inside from the left wing only to curl his shot wide.

West Ham were marginally the more adventurous team but Brighton probably had the best two chances of the first half.

First Ben Johnson was booked for a foul on Facundo Buonanotte 25 yards out and from Pascal Gross’ cross, Alphonse Areola palmed away a far-post Danny Welbeck header and then saved the rebound from Jack Hinshelwood.

Gross then got in between West Ham’s centre-halves but planted his header from Milner’s cross too close to Areola.

After the break Welbeck’s fierce shot forced a fine diving save from Areola with Milner, who turns 38 on Thursday, skying the rebound.

West Ham should have broken the deadlock on the hour when Benrahma’s cross was deflected into the path of Tomas Soucek but the Czech midfielder stabbed his effort wide.

But Brighton finished stronger and Evan Ferguson, on as a substitute, almost had an immediate impact with a low drive which beat the dive of Areola but rolled inches past the far post.

Jakub Moder blazed over from close range and Areola made another decent save to deny Adam Lallana and preserve a point for the hosts.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised his players’ mentality after they followed up their derby triumph with a dominant 3-0 win over St Mirren.

The cinch Premiership leaders maintained the eight-point advantage they opened up with Saturday’s victory over Rangers, thanks to a flying start which saw Daizen Maeda net inside 60 seconds and Matt O’Riley slot home his 10th goal of the season six minutes in.

St Mirren had Toyosi Olusanya sent off in first-half stoppage-time and had goalkeeper Zach Hemming to thank for keeping the score down after Greg Taylor volleyed home on the hour mark.

Rodgers said: “It can always be a tricky game mentally and physically after a Rangers game but I thought we dealt with it really well and we made the start we wanted to. It was good tempo, good speed, so that set us up well in the game.

“These games are so important and I think as we work together more the players understand more the mentality that is required and the demands and you can now see the standard of performance we have put in place. And then the results will come.

“The second half the only downside was we never took the chances we created but we were much better 11 v 10 than we were at the weekend.

“We spoke about that after Rangers. You have to really dominate possession and counter press and we did that really well in the second half.”

Celtic have won all four of their games over the festive period after losing consecutive league matches for the first time in a decade.

“I think you can see that it is getting better and improving,” Rodgers said.

“Those results against Kilmarnock and Hearts, it was about learning from those. I think you can see the difference in the team and how they are working.

“And sometimes you need that. To have success you need to have that bit of adversity. How the players have responded to that has been fantastic.

“Their mentality, their attitude, the speed, the tempo of the games is what we want as well with much more creativity. The second part of the season I am excited about.”

Olusanya was sent off after catching Joe Hart in the face with his studs with a high boot following a VAR review but the game already looked beyond St Mirren.

Manager Stephen Robinson said: “It was a long evening. You can’t start like that and win football matches. Effectively the game was dead after six minutes.

“The more you come out the more they can open you up, so the game plan goes out the window.

“Frustrating, because we spoke about getting done on our inside shoulders with Maeda’s runs, and for the third goal we also got done for dropping our runner.

“As well as Celtic showed a lot of quality, of course, we didn’t control that situation well enough.

“Then it’s compounded by the red card which makes it damage limitation whichever way you dress it up.”

Philippe Clement was left puzzled after Rangers conceded a rare penalty in the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock at Ibrox.

The Ibrox club had called for more transparency over VAR’s interpretation of handball after there had been no spot-kick awarded after the ball had come off Celtic defender Alistair Johnston’s hand inside the box in the 2-1 defeat at Parkhead on Saturday.

Rangers were leading 2-0 against fourth-place Killie through goals by Ross McCausland and Abdallah Sima when VAR called for a penalty check after Rory McKenzie’s cross struck the arm of Gers defender John Souttar inside the box.

Referee John Beaton went to his pitchside monitor and then pointed to the spot, with Danny Armstrong giving Jack Butland no chance before Todd Cantwell restored the two-goal lead to keep the Light Blues eight points behind Celtic with two games in hand.

It was the first penalty Rangers had conceded in 75 cinch Premiership matches since Lewis Ferguson netted for Aberdeen in a 1-1 draw in January 2022

Clement told Rangers TV: “The only downside for me is that I cannot explain to my players anymore what is handball and what is not after this game if we get a penalty against like this and a goal against like this three days after what happened at Celtic Park.

“I can’t give them an explanation and that’s different as a manager when you cannot give an explanation.

“It’s not easy. Afterwards, we can laugh and it’s not a big difference, it’s 3-0 or 3-1.

“Just for the future, it needs to be clear for everybody what is handball and what is not handball and these two situations it’s a little bit bizarre.”

Matt O’Riley provided a goal and assist inside the first six minutes as Celtic cruised to a 3-0 victory over 10-man St Mirren.

Daizen Maeda and Greg Taylor were also on target in Paisley as Celtic went into the cinch Premiership winter break eight points clear of Rangers, who have two games in hand.

Toyosi Olusanya was sent off in first-half stoppage-time after catching Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart in the face with a high boot.

It was deja vu for St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson, whose team received red cards in their previous home matches against both Celtic and Rangers.

While the previous dismissals changed the course of those games, Celtic were in command of this one from the very start.

The champions went ahead 56 seconds in after O’Riley collected Callum McGregor’s forward pass and played the ball inside St Mirren wing-back Scott Tanser for Maeda to run onto and beat Zach Hemming.

O’Riley soon had his 10th league goal of the season. Luis Palma fed Paulo Bernardo’s run into the box and the Portuguese midfielder spun past Alex Gogic and teed up O’Riley, who sidestepped Tanser and slotted through Hemming’s legs.

Maeda put in some dangerous crosses from the right as Celtic continued to control the game. They had further chances from set-pieces with Maik Nawrocki unable to get on the end of Kyogo Furuhashi’s flick-on and O’Riley heading beyond the far post.

St Mirren’s only first-half effort was an off-target strike from Olusanya following a loose pass from Liam Scales. And a rare attack late in the half only worsened their situation.

Olusanya went in with a raised boot as Hart punched the ball clear and caught the Celtic goalkeeper in the face with his studs. Referee David Munro initially booked the St Mirren forward but was called to his monitor by video assistant referee Steven McLean and there was no surprise when he amended his card.

The second half started like an attack versus defence training routine as Taylor passed up a good chance to shoot and Palma shot over.

Hemming made a brilliant save from O’Riley shortly before Bernardo’s beautiful lofted pass set up Taylor to volley home from six yards on the hour mark.

Furuhashi headed wide from close range and Brendan Rodgers brought on three players who will join Maeda at the Asian Cup this month – the forward’s Japan team-mate Reo Hatate and South Korea pair Yang Hyun-jun and Oh Hyeon-gyu.

It was Hatate’s first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid on October 25.

Hemming kept the score down, pulling off point-blank saves from Yang and fellow substitute Liel Abada, twice each, and Oh.

Scales also headed off the post and Alistair Johnston missed a good chance as Celtic looked to boost their goal difference.

Philippe Clement told his Rangers players to enjoy their upcoming break after bouncing back from their Old Firm defeat to beat Kilmarnock 3-1 at Ibrox

The Belgian had lost his first game as Gers boss since taking over in October in the narrow 2-1 loss at Celtic Park on Saturday but late first-half goals against Killie from wide-men Ross McCausland and Abdallah Sima had the Light Blues in control at the break.

The visitors refused to buckle and Danny Armstrong reduced the deficit in the 58th minute with a penalty awarded after VAR intervention.

It was the first penalty Rangers had conceded in 75 cinch Premiership matches since Lewis Ferguson netted for Aberdeen in a 1-1 draw in January 2022.

However, Todd Cantwell soon restored the two-goal cushion to keep the pressure on leaders Celtic going in to the winter break, where they will have a few days off before going to Spain for a training camp next week.

Clement, looking back to qualifying for the Europa League last 16 with a win away to Real Betis before winning the Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen days later, said: “I said it also in the opposite way after the win in Betis. Three days later we then had to be there again and performing under all the pressure to win a trophy after so many years.

“They showed resilience, concentration, ambition and today they showed that also.

“This is one of the dangerous games where you’d be disappointed not to win. It’s a few hours away from going on a break.

“It’s the festive time where all the family are around you having a good time with drinks, food and a good life.

“The players had to recover really fast and then perform. But they are doing that.

“They are on the right road. They understand my story, which is also important. This is that life is much better when you are ambitious every day.

“If you go in satisfied about what you did, then you go down.

“I told them in the dressing room they can switch off for a few days. Of course they need to do their programme.

“They cannot let their body do nothing for five or six days and then have a hard training camp, because then you’re at risk of injuries.

“But outside of that they really need to switch off and enjoy their time with their families.”

Killie boss Derek McInnes watched midfielder Liam Donnelly go off early with a hamstring problem but he is focused on bringing in a striker in the transfer window.

He said: “We are a wee bit short in the midfield at the minute.

“We have three significant injuries so we will see how those play out over the next couple of weeks and we are only looking to try to do one bit of business,  we are trying to bring in a forward player, other than that I am happy with the squad.

“I want  us to get back on the horse really quickly when we come back and set about the task. I am really encouraged with what I am getting from these lads.

“The message at half-time was can we win the second half, get the next goal, don’t go under, make sure we stick together and stick to what we want to do.

“The spirit in the team was terrific, everything I expected from them.

“We have been on a good run of late and clearly there are improvements in the side. We get a goal back and we just needed to keep it at 2-1 for longer.”

Carlo Ancelotti has expressed his wish to remain at Real Madrid beyond his current contract extension after committing to stay with the LaLiga leaders until at least 2026.

Ancelotti signed a new two-year deal on Friday, ending speculation linking him with the Brazil national team, and increasing the likelihood that the 64-year-old will be at the Bernabeu for the rest of his career.

The Italian leads his side into Wednesday’s home game against Mallorca sitting back at the top of the table on goal difference from surprise package Girona after two straight wins.

Ancelotti told a press conference: “I’m very happy to have my contract renewed, it was very simple and both sides agreed on it.

“It’s important that the club continues to trust in my work. My contract was up on June 30 and the club decided to do it now because they’re happy with my work.

“I don’t know if it will be my last spell as a coach. I don’t know what will happen once I finish here. I might still be here in 2026, depending on how successful I am.

“I’d like to be Madrid coach until 2026, and hopefully I can continue to be here in 2027 and 2028 because I want to stay here.”

With his side’s injury problems starting to ease, Ancelotti insisted he will not be in the market for new players in the January transfer window, despite first-choice centre-backs Eder Militao and David Alaba still sidelined.

“We are not planning to sign another centre-back,” said Ancelotti, who will have Vinicius Junior, Dani Carvajal and Arda Guler all available after returning from injury.

“We’ve got two important ones out, but we’ve got two more in Nacho and (Antonio) Rudiger. And then we have others options in case of emergencies such as (Eduardo) Camavinga and Carvajal.”

Having hauled in the early domestic leaders, Ancelotti is confident his side will continue to assert their authority in LaLiga with so many big names becoming available.

“We must wait and see what happens this season. We’ve done well so far, the team has changed, it’s changing, and it will change in the future,” he added.

“We have a lot of talent that we haven’t been able to put into action yet, like Guler, who is finally getting back to his best.

“We’ll have to wait for the second half of the season. We did well in the first half, even with a lot of problems.”

Nick Montgomery was frustrated at his side’s lack of cutting edge despite salvaging a point with an injury-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Motherwell.

Elie Youan fired Hibs into a deserved first-half lead after making a dominant start to proceedings at Easter Road.

They would find themselves pegged back seven minutes later, however, and Bevis Mugabi then nodded the visitors ahead shortly after the hour mark.

It looked like the Hibees were set for only their second home defeat of the season before Youan grabbed his second goal of the afternoon to earn them a share of the spoils.

“I’m not happy we didn’t win the game, I thought we did more than enough,” Montgomery said.

“The first 30 minutes we could have been 3-0 up, I don’t think anyone can deny that.

“We conceded a real sloppy goal from a throw-in, totally against the run of play and that was the disappointing thing.

“At the end of the game, coming back from 2-1 down at home in a game that I felt we should have been quite far ahead, I have to be happy to take a point – but I’m pretty sure they will be delighted to come here and take a point.”

The Hibs gaffer was delighted to welcome back Harry McKirdy for the first time since undergoing cardiac surgery in August.

The striker received a huge welcome from the home supporters following his introduction with four minutes remaining.

“We had Harry McKirdy coming back from a life-threatening injury,” Montgomery added.

“To put him on the pitch and see that, for me some things are more important than football.

“His energy when he came on, he lifted the crowd. If people saw Harry and what he’s been through on a daily basis, it has been really emotional today – we’re talking about a kid that didn’t know if he’d play football again.”

Well boss Stuart Kettlewell was disappointed after Youan’s late leveller denied his side the chance to record successive league victories for the first time since September.

Motherwell recovered from a poor start and falling a goal behind to take the lead at Easter Road.

The Steelmen looked set for an important three points before Youan’s strike deflected off Mugabi and beyond Liam Kelly.

“I’m really disappointed, probably just for the point of view that we knew Hibs would have a lot of the game and throw crosses into our box, the pace and the threat that they carry,” said Kettlewell.

“I felt at that stage of the game we were comfortable, I wasn’t sure that there was another chance there.

“I think we’re one clearance away from three points today. If young Georgie (Gent), who has been great for us, makes a good contact with the ball we probably go get the three points.

“When you look at the overall context of the game and where we’ve been, then I suppose it probably is not a bad point.”

The Well boss is aiming to strengthen his squad during the winter break as injuries and suspensions continue to cause selection headaches.

Motherwell had only 12 senior players available for the fixture at Easter Road, with Shane Blaney and Oli Shaw missing out through injury and Brodie Spencer serving a suspension.

“I’m a broken record and I’m not wanting anyone to feel sorry for me, when you hear a few complaints and a few murmurs of discontent from clubs around about Scotland – I’d urge them to look at our squad and what we are able to field at this time,” he added.

“We are depleted, I think I had 12 fit senior players available to me today which becomes a struggle.

“What we did show was a real unity on the pitch, you can see we are united, you can see we are together.

“We know as a football club from top to bottom that we absolutely need a bit of help and a bit of support – we need to bring in one or two.”

Steven Naismith praised in-form Hearts for overcoming a “rubbish” pitch at the Tony Macaroni Arena to tighten their grip on third place in the cinch Premiership with a 2-1 away win over Livingston.

The Jambos boss was braced for a scrap on the Lions’ artificial surface, and he was encouraged to see his team come out on the right side of it after second-half goals from Kenneth Vargas and top scorer Lawrence Shankland – who saw a penalty saved by Jack Hamilton at 0-0 – secured an eighth win in 11 cinch Premiership matches.

The victory took Hearts five points clear of fourth-placed Kilmarnock with a game in hand heading into the winter break.

“The pitch was rubbish, so I’m really pleased with the performance,” said Hearts boss Naismith. “It’s not a pitch you’re going to get any good football on so it becomes a battle.

“First half they got the better of the fight, they were picking up second balls. But second half we were much better at that and we had bits of quality.

“When we made our runs at the right times and played the right passes, we created chances.

“We got ahead, managed it well. We even had the setback of the penalty. I’ve played in Hearts teams that crumble at that point, so it was a big improvement.

“Overall this end to the year has been brilliant for us.”

Livingston – who pulled one back through an Andrew Shinnie penalty – go into the break six points adrift at the foot of the table after a 13th game in a row without victory.

Boss David Martindale felt Hearts forward Shankland, who scored his 18th goal of the season, was “the difference in the game”.

“He must be worth four or five million pound,” said the Lions boss. “We actually had some very good moments to win the game. There were a lot of positives bar the result.

“I felt it was a bit more of what I want from a Livingston team.

“But the top end of the park was the difference and Hearts have got a match-winner in their team.

“I know he misses the pen but the outside-of-the-foot finish for the second goal is fantastic.

“Our marking is diabolical, terrible. But that’s probably the difference: Lawrence Shankland.

“I look at him and compare him and he’s completely different from (Celtic striker) Kyogo but he’s slightly like (former Rangers forward Alfredo) Morelos.

“Lawrence has more in his overall game and a better mentality. When Morelos was at his prime, it’s a tough one but I’m probably taking Lawrence

“18 goals in all competitions, half-way through a season, is incredible numbers.

“It’s not just against us either, he’s scoring all types of different finishes against everyone.”

Barry Robson believes that Aberdeen looked like a “proper team” again in their 3-0 cinch Premiership win over Ross County.

Jamie McGrath’s first-half double was added to by Bojan Miovski late in the day, with the Dons in control for the vast majority of the match in Dingwall.

Robson’s side moved up to eighth in the table, four points above second-bottom County.

He said: “The boys played well, and from start to finish we looked really at it.

“We looked like a proper team, and I was really pleased for the players because it has been a long first half of the season being on our travels.

“It has worked for us at times when we’ve changed shape during games. I don’t know if people have seen, but we’ve tried to do that within games, so we started with it and it seemed to work.

“We thought that system might work against Ross County today, and it did. When we’ve been at our best, no matter what system we’ve played, it has been when we’ve pressed well and moved the ball quickly, and I think that’s what we did today.”

County boss Derek Adams admitted that Aberdeen deserved their win.

He was frustrated at the lack of goalmouth action County were able to generate, saying that despite approaching the game in the same sort of fashion they went into against Hearts at Tynecastle last weekend, they did not test Kelle Roos nearly enough.

“Aberdeen were better than us today,” Adams said.

“They scored their goals, and it was probably our fault because we didn’t defend well enough.

“Over the afternoon we didn’t create enough openings to score, and we didn’t work their goalkeeper enough, so over the afternoon Aberdeen deserved the three points.

“It wasn’t tactics, we just made errors. Looking at the goals, quite clearly you’ll see that the goals we gave away were poor goals.

“When you do that, there’s nothing you can do tactically other than put 10 behind the ball. When they go 2-0 up, it gives them a good footing in the game, and they were composed on the ball.

“We gave away a goal that we shouldn’t have, and that gave Aberdeen confidence. They have really good players in their side, and they punished us after that.”

Elie Youan struck late to rescue a point for Hibernian against Motherwell in a 2-2 draw in the cinch Premiership.

It looked as if the Steelmen were set for an impressive victory after Theo Bair and Bevis Mugabi cancelled out Youan’s opener.

Lewis Stevenson struck the crossbar as the hosts hunted for an equaliser and they would salvage a point in the first minute of injury-time when Youan’s shot found the net with the aid of a deflection.

Hibs remain sixth in the Premiership, while Motherwell dropped to ninth – eight points ahead of Livingston at the foot of the table.

Nick Montgomery was forced to reshuffle his squad with Rocky Bushiri, Lewis Miller, Martin Boyle and Jojo Wollacott all away on international duty.

Paul Hanlon returned to the starting line-up alongside Rory Whittaker, Youan and Christian Doidge, while Harry McKirdy made the bench – the first time the striker has featured since May.

Motherwell were without Shane Blaney and Oli Shaw who both sustained injuries in the win over Livingston, while Brodie Spencer was unavailable due to suspension. Mugabi, Harry Paton and Callum Slattery were handed starting-berths having been introduced from the bench against Livi.

Hibernian started brightly, and Jair Tavares did well to burst into the box and send over a tantalising cross that somehow evaded all inside the area.

Tavares was involved again on seven minutes when he produced another dangerous delivery that required an important clearance from Georgie Gent.

The Steelmen had their first effort on goal as Mika Biereth glanced past the post, though they nearly found themselves behind a minute later.

Doidge did well to spin inside the box and it took a superb stop from Liam Kelly to deny the Welsh international from breaking the deadlock.

A good block from Slattery diverted Dylan Levitt’s goal-bound strike behind after the Motherwell defence was cut apart by a well-worked corner, but Hibs would eventually make the breakthrough their dominance merited in the 28th minute.

Youan skipped past two defenders before unleashing a low shot beyond the keeper and into the bottom corner.

Motherwell had been on the back-foot for much of the opening 35 minutes but they would grab an unexpected equaliser with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Biereth slipped the ball through to Bair who coolly dispatched past David Marshall for his third goal in two matches.

Boosted by their leveller, Well almost took the lead when Marshall was forced to palm away Paton’s strike and Slattery should then have done better when the rebound broke his way.

There was little in the way of goalmouth action at the beginning of the second half, though Motherwell would go ahead shortly after the hour mark.

Levitt was shown a yellow card for a cynical foul on Gent and the visitors would profit from the resulting free-kick. Blair Spittal’s delivery was cleared as far as Stephen O’Donnell who headed the ball to Biereth who then flicked it on to Mugabi to nod home from close-range.

A crucial tackle from Mugabi stopped Rudi Molotnikov from racing through on goal and Motherwell were then saved by the woodwork after Stevenson crashed an effort from the edge of the box against the crossbar.

Montgomery introduced McKirdy in an attempt to salvage something from an encounter that was quickly getting away from Hibs, and they would level matters in added time.

Youan’s effort struck Gent and drifted past the Well keeper to earn the home side a share of the spoils.