Josh Campbell’s injury worsening means that Hibs ‘need to keep hunting’ for reinforcements in January.

Nick Montgomery, manager of Hibs, responds to Hearts’ derby loss.

Josh Campbell is the most recent player to add to the Hibs injured list, so manager Nick Montgomery is hopeful he can add more players.

Montgomery was devastated that his team’s 23-year-old midfielder was injured in the derby, but he was also frustrated that his team’s strength was further diminished. This was Montgomery’s first home loss as Easter Road’s manager.

“He has a serious ankle twist, which adds to the lengthy list of players we are missing. Hopefully it’s not as horrible as we initially believed. All we have to do is make it through the break, and maybe after that we can get the injured boys back and bring in one or two reinforcements.

“We need to keep searching since we will lose four players from the squad due to the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations. There aren’t many good players out there who aren’t playing. Conversely, it presents a chance for a few of the smaller guys.

They may need to be part this weekend as the sixth-placed team looks to overcome two straight losses by defeating Motherwell on January 2 in order to gain extra momentum going into the winter break.

It’s difficult to accept. I’ve never lost a game at Easter Road before, and this one is definitely the worst. That is painful. It will ache for an extended period. However, we must now prepare for Motherwell.

Sometimes, it’s a brutal game. Lawrence Shankland is a quality striker, and his performance was exceptional, which is why there is a lot of talk in the media about him perhaps going on.

“He’s arguably one of the league’s best strikers.” Apart from that, I felt we kept him quiet and played excellently for most of the game. All we needed was one last pass or one last flash of brilliance to seize the game. Nobody who was watching, in my opinion, would have predicted anything other than a draw with two missed penalties.

“The fight and the desire was there, and I feel like the players could give me no more effort, so I’m angry and frustrated for them.”

GET MORE NEWS HERE