BY DARREN JOHNSTONE – CAPITAL CITY PRESS
Hibs manager Alan Stubbs has made playmaker Sam Stanton available for a loan move away from Easter Road next season.
The 21-year-old only made eight starts in a total off 22 Championship appearances last term and is likely to find it difficult to pin down a regular first team place in the coming campaign.
Stanton has been linked with a move to Dundee as part of the deal that will take Martin Boyle in the opposite direction but it is understood that, as yet, nothing has been agreed.
After making his competitive debut as a substitute against Rangers in January 2012, the dynamic Stanton became a regular during the 2013/14 campaign under Pat Fenlon and then Terry Butcher.
The youngster’s performances were a rare positive during a disastrous campaign that ended in relegation for the Leith outfit.
Stanton signed a new four-year deal with Hibs in April 2014 and was described by Butcher as ‘a player with an incredibly bright future’.
But the Scotland Under-21 cap struggled to recapture that form last season and was utilised mainly from the bench under Stubbs.
Stanton’s future is likely to become a lot clear when Hibs return to pre-season training next Wednesday.
Speaking about his preparations for the new campaign, Stubbs, who has already signed forwards James Keatings and Danny Carmichael, said: “We’re back on the 24th and 25th of June for testing and then they’ll have a couple of days rest before we start pre-season.”
