Hibernian’s Chris Cadden is facing the prospect of missing most of next season amid fears that he ruptured his Achilles tendon in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with 10-man Hearts at Tynecastle.
The 26-year-old was carried off in clear distress after landing awkwardly while making a headed clearance in his own box midway through the second half.
Hibs also lost Jake Doyle-Hayes after he dislocated his shoulder in an eventful showdown in Gorgie, while manager Lee Johnson confirmed afterwards that on-loan Burnley defender CJ Egan-Riley, who suffered a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s win over Celtic, will be out well into the new campaign.
The injury to Cadden is of most concern, however, with players typically out for the best part of a year when damaging their Achilles.
“Not good, they look like bad ones, so our thoughts go out to them,” said Johnson when asked for an update after the Hearts match.
“I think Jake’s dislocated his shoulder and Cadds may have ruptured his Achilles, so that’s not good, obviously.
“With CJ’s hamstring as well, it looks like he’s going to be out for three or four months, so that’s three big players.
“Two are on contract but one potentially we could have got back next year, so we will have to rethink with a short summer ahead of us.”
Despite playing for an hour with an extra man after Alex Cochrane’s dismissal, Hibs – who equalised through Kevin Nisbet after Yutaro Oda’s early opener – were unable to find the winner that would have lifted them above Hearts into fourth place in the table and guaranteed them European football next term.
The fifth-placed Hibees will still get a crack at the Europa Conference League as long as Celtic beat Inverness in next Saturday’s Scottish Cup final.
“I’m proud of the second half of the season,” said Johnson, reflecting on his first campaign at Easter Road.
“If I look at the big picture now of where we are compared to where we were, we’re in a fantastic place to progress.
“I will make changes over the summer, without a question of a doubt, there will be ins and outs. I’m not finished, we’re not finished.
“Everything is looking up, the points tally (eight out of 15) in the top six has been good.
“I felt we should have beaten Aberdeen which potentially could have been another two points.
“We’ve got the summer to build that 30 per cent within the squad that we’re after – a bit more quality, change the dynamic a little bit, freshen the group up and then we go again.”
Steven Naismith, who oversaw two wins, three draws and two defeats in his seven games in interim charge of Hearts, declared himself “ready for management”.
“This period was definitely a big indicator,” said the 36-year-old.
“I have spoken to clubs in the past but you have this feeling of ‘am I ready?’, And every manager I’ve spoken to has said that if you could coach for 10 years you will never know when you’re ready, but what this has done is give me a taste of it and I know I’m ready and I think I’ve shown that.
“These are the five hardest fixtures of the season, at a time when the squad is really low and I’m proud of what we’ve done. I’m ready for it.
“The conversations will now start to see whether I’m the man to take Hearts forward or not but I’m looking forward to those conversations.”
Conte embracing Napoli improvements after Como triumph
Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli's recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break.
Scott McTominay's early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break.
Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.
The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run.
Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to be at the top of the table, but felt quietly optimistic about his players' progression during the early stages of his tenure.
"I don't know if this is currently a Napoli that deserves to be in first place in the standings, but we are first and that is a fact," Conte said to DAZN.
"If someone had told me this three months ago, it would have been difficult to believe.
"We're growing in terms of temperament, and in our ability to adapt—playing good football, but also willing to get our hands dirty when we need to.
"That's a great sign, and we have to embrace it fully."
But the encounter against Como was far from comfortable for Conte's side, with the visitors registering 11 shots compared to Napoli's nine, while Cesc Fabregas' men also ended the contest with 59.3% possession.
Napoli, though, created the better chances, ending the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.02 from their six efforts on target, with Lukaku continuing to flourish under Conte's stewardship.
McTominay's opening goal after 26 seconds was the third-quickest for Napoli in the three-points-per-game era, while the former Manchester United midfielder also became the first Scottish player to score for Gli Azzurri in Serie A.
"We started well in the first half, scoring a great goal, the result of our hard work," Conte said.
"Then we changed things tactically in the second half, and they were no longer in the game.
"We lost too many duels, but that's part of the process of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem."
Conte also showered praise on the home supporters inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
"Playing in Naples, at the Maradona, with a full stadium means that the players can really feel the crowd's emotions," he said.
If you make mistakes, you can feel the disappointment, and that can chip away at your confidence.
"Napoli has a deep passion for football. We try to feed that passion by giving our all, like we did today. In the second half, we improved from every point of view."
Sunderland 2-2 Leeds: Meslier howler gifts Black Cats a point
Illan Meslier's last-gasp error saw Sunderland snatch a point against Leeds at the Stadium of Light on Friday.
The home supporters were sent into raptures by one of their own in the ninth minute when Chris Rigg opened the scoring, tucking home from close range after Meslier had produced a miraculous save to deny Dennis Cirkin's previous effort.
But Sunderland's joy was short-lived when Joel Piroe headed Wilfried Gnonto's inviting delivery beyond Anthony Patterson, though replays showed he may have wandered into an offside position.
Both sides continued to push for a half-time lead, with Brenden Aaronson seeing his shot cleared off the line and Patrick Roberts seeing his effort saved to end a pulsating half of action.
The hosts emerged from the tunnel in the ascendency but were met with a sucker punch in the 56th minute when Junior Firpo's driving run from deep ended with the left-back sweeping the ball into the far corner.
But with the clock ticking into the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, there was to be one final twist when Alan Browne's flicked pass into the box somehow evaded the grasp of Meslier to preserve Sunderland's unbeaten home record this season.
Data Debrief: Meslier blunder overshadows Leeds display
Leeds were moments away from going level on points with Sunderland at the summit of the Championship, before a moment of madness sealed a gut-wrenching end to an enthralling encounter in the North East.
The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.16 from their 15 shots compared to Sunderland's 1.77, with Piroe contributing 0.72 xG to Leeds' tally.
But their display was overshadowed by Meslier's blunder, with the Frenchman enjoying a strong performance up until that point, making three saves against the Black Cats.
Gabbia, Pisilli and Maldini named in Italy's Nations League squad
Luciano Spalletti has handed four players their senior call-up to the Italy national team ahead of their Nations League fixtures next week.
Italy take on Belgium and Israel in the next round of games, hoping to build on their impressive start in Group A2 after winning their opening two games which included a 3-1 win over France.
Milan defender Matteo Gabbia has been included after an impressive run of performances at centre-back under new head coach Paulo Fonseca.
Gabbia is also the first player from the Rossoneri to be named in the Italy squad in almost 600 days, with Sandro Tonali, who joined Newcastle in 2023, the last Milan representative to feature for the Azzurri.
There was also a place in the squad for Monza's Daniel Maldini, who could follow in the footsteps of his father Paolo, and grandfather Cesare, both former Italy captains.
Maldini has one goal and one assist in seven appearances in all competitions this season, and comes in for Lazio's Matteo Zaccagni.
Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio has also been given a first call-up to the senior side, replacing the injured Alex Meret of Napoli.
Roma's Niccolo Pisilli was also named in the squad, replacing Atlanta's Marco Brescianini, who has also suffered a recent injury set-back.
There were five Premier League representatives named in Spalletti's 23-man squad on Friday, with Guglielmo Vicario, Riccardo Calafiori, Caleb Okoli, Destiny Udogie and Tonali also included.
However, there was no space for Liverpool's Federico Chiesa, who did not feature in the Reds' Champions League win over Bologna in midweek.
Italy squad: Michele Di Gregorio (Juventus), Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG), Guglielmo Vicario (Spurs), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Matteo Gabbia (Milan), Caleb Okoli (Leicester), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Niccolo Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
