Josh Doig’s new deal boosts Hibernian ahead of Rangers cup tie

Hibernian have received another boost ahead of Sunday’s League Cup semi-final against Rangers after teenage left-back Josh Doig agreed a new long-term contract until 2026.

The highly-regarded 19-year-old has become the fifth player to extend their deal with the Easter Road club this week after Lewis Stevenson, Paul Hanlon, Jake Doyle-Hayes and Christian Doidge all did likewise.

Doig has been Hibs’ first-choice left-back for the past season-and-a-half, and was the subject of strong interest from Watford in the summer, so it is a major coup that they have managed to tie down one of their prized assets for the next four-and-a-half years.

The Scotland Under-21 left-back told Hibernian’s website: “I’m absolutely delighted. I absolutely love this club and it was a no-brainer to sign.

“Now getting this done puts a real plan in place for me. I love working with everyone here, I’m so happy here and wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Captain Hanlon, who has extended his deal until 2024, believes the retention of so many players will lead to continuity and cohesion going forward.

He said: “I think stability is the thought behind all the new contracts. We’ve got a good group here who want to be successful so we want to keep as many as possible in the building and hopefully push on together.”

Hanlon, who has been at Hibs for his entire career, did not have to think twice about signing his new deal.

He said: “It was an easy decision for me. I’ll be 34 when my deal expires so I’ll see what happens after that. I just want to keep myself as fit and healthy as I can and stay in the team every week for Hibs and do well.”

Sunday’s semi-final will be Hibernian’s first game in three-and-a-half weeks after a Covid-19 outbreak led to two of their matches being postponed before the international break.

Hanlon hopes the break will have had a revitalising effect on his side who had lost four matches in a row.

He said: “We’re looking forward to getting back into competitive action and obviously it’s a great stage to be coming back into.

“The break was forced upon us but it probably came at a good time and it’s been a good chance to get a bit of a reset.

“We’ve obviously not had any competitive action but we’ve worked hard and had 11 v 11 games between ourselves so we’ll be ready to go on Sunday.

“We’re just hoping to put on a good performance and get through to the final.”