Injury Ravaged Dons Head For Hibs

Hibs welcome Aberdeen to Easter Road with both sides looking to bounce back from disappointing defeats last weekend.

The Hibees fell to a 3-1 defeat to bottom club Dundee in what was a shock result given they'd went into the match looking to consolidate top spot.

However they lost their position at the head of the table with Dons conquerors, Celtic wrapping up a 2-0 victory at Pittodrie.

Prior to their defeats both sides had been in good form in the SPL with Hibs racking up three successive victories whilst Craig Brown's men had only lost 1 out of 14.

Hibs keeper Ben Williams - "There are some massive games coming up for us in the next few weeks.

"We have a huge match against Aberdeen, then another against Hearts.

"The atmosphere at Easter Road is going to be amazing and the pressure is going to be intense. But I can`t wait to be involved in them.

"As a player these are the games you thrive on."

Hibs look set to welcome back skipper James McPake following a back injury which forced him to miss out on clashes against both Dundee and neighbours United.

Former Motherwell man Tim Clancy may also return having sat out three SPL matches with Gary Deegan (fractured jaw) the only noticeable Hibee missing.

There really is no other choice.

'Sparky' by name and the striker is certainly a livewire in and around the box.

With 13 goals to his credit so far this season the Dons defence will have to keep a tight reign on the new Scotland cap if they wish to take anything from the match.

Aberdeen certainly don't have their injury problems to seek with as many as 7 first team members possibly ruled out.

Ryan Fraser, Clark Robertson and Gavin Rae are all rated in the doubtful category whilst Rob Milsom, Gary Naysmith, Ryan Jack and Stephen Hughes are already missing from the squad.

The former Celtic player has enjoyed a new lease of life under Craig Brown and has rewarded his wily old fox of a manager with a return of 7 goals in 11 SPL games with 2 of those appearances by way of substitute.

Since the SPL's inauguration in 1998/99 the clubs have met on 50 occasions - Hibs have won 17, Aberdeen 22.

Remarkably, Hibs have failed to beat the Dons at Easter Road since October 2009 when late goals from Colin Nish (88) and Liam Miller (90+3) secured a 2-0 victory.

Since then the sides have met five times in Leith with two 0-0 draws, a 2-2 draw with the Reds registering 2-1 and 3-1 victories in the other fixtures.

Tough trip for the Dons, the best they can hope for is a draw on this occasion. Vital Aberdeen fancy a 1-1 scoring draw.

Hibs travel to Perth on Wednesday whilst Aberdeen face Inverness Caley at Pittodrie on Tuesday.

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