CHRISTIAN DOIDGE is accustomed to getting on the end of Melker Hallberg’s deliveries.
However, the Hibs ace returned the favour when his pal was stuck in quarantine.
Hallberg returned to Sweden to be close to his family when the Scottish football season was called due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
When the order to come back to Edinburgh in May came, travel guidelines meant he was forced to self-isolate for a fortnight.
Thankfully, his close pal Doidge was there to lend a hand, turning personal shopper and bringing ultra-healthy hauls direct to his door.
The Welsh hitman said: “Melker was back in Sweden to see his family during the lockdown and got stuck there for a while.
“When he came back to Edinburgh he had to self-isolate, so I did the shopping for him and his partner, Elsa.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw their shopping list – I’ve never seen so much healthy food in my life. I was going down the vegetable aisle looking for things I had never heard of!
“To be fair, I think most of it was for his girlfriend. I think it might be a Scandinavian thing. They clearly look after themselves and Melker is the ultimate professional.
“I didn’t even try to sneak a beer into the order for him because I know he wouldn’t drink it.
“It was no problem – you do that for your mates, especially in that situation. But he owes me a few assists this season.”
Doidge’s focus is now on scoresheets rather than shopping lists.
A slight knee injury restricted him to a substitute appearance in last weekend’s triumph over Kilmarnock, with Martin Boyle stepping seamlessly into an attacking role.
Boyle’s brace has already sparked some healthy competition between the pair and, with the Australia international out of contract next summer, he hopes the waspish wide-man sticks around long enough to bag 20 goals.
Doidge continued: “It means a lot for Boyler to play for Hibernian and he would never let speculation affect his performances. That showed last week with the two goals.
“There’s already a competition between me and Boyler. He did fantastic last weekend, is always a threat with his pace running in behind and is a really good finisher.
“He’s a brilliant player for us and hopefully he scores 20 goals this year.”
Saturday’s visit to Livingston is also likely to see Doidge start alongside £250,000 summer signing Kevin Nisbet for the first time in a competitive outing – and the former Bolton attacker reckons they could prove a perfect partnership.
He added: “I’ve been really impressed with Kev since he’s come in. He’s looked really good – a big, strong boy and he’s a real threat in front of goal.
“We played a small part of the last game together and seemed to link up well, and what we’ve done in training has looked good.”
SPECULATION
Meanwhile, Easter Road head coach Jack Ross has confessed that there is no guarantee that he will be allowed to reinvest the £150,000 the club banked for Flo Kamberi’s move to St Gallen this week.
Ross, who refused to comments on speculation linking Hibs with Rangers duo Ross McCrorie and Greg Docherty, added: “In terms of the communication between club senior management and me, it’s open and consistent – I’ve known where we’re at for a long time.
“Flo leaving – with us recouping a fee and freeing up space in our squad – is basically helping us reduce costs for the moment.
“How the senior management then looks at what we can do moving forward is up to them.”
