Hibernian boss Jack Ross expects defender Josh Doig to leave club in near future

Jack Ross expects Josh Doig to leave Hibernian in the near future after interest in the 19-year-old left-back stepped up.

Doig was left out of the Hibernian squad for their opening cinch Premiership victory over Motherwell as the teenager prepares to make a major decision on his future.

Reports claim Burnley and Watford are battling for his signature but the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Celtic have also been linked with the attacking full-back.

Doig won the Scottish Football Writer’s young player of the year after making 35 appearances last season.

After a 3-2 win at Fir Park, Ross said: “He’s still a Hibs player and it’s not impossible that he’ll still be a Hibs player come the end of the window.

“Certainly how things have developed over the past few days, it looks much more likely that he’ll leave and if he does so it will be a fantastic move for him and good value for us as a club.

“Ideally, for me as a manager, you want those things to happen much sooner than in the past couple of days but you’ve got to deal with the problem it creates and find a solution.

“It’s been a challenging few days for him as he’s only 19 and it’s a new experience for him.

“We’ll see him again tomorrow (Monday) and we’ll go from there. At the moment, it looks much more likely that he’ll be going soon.

“There’s two clubs definitely interested and whether any more come to the table on the back of this, I don’t know.

“At the moment he has good options. It’s thoroughly deserved because of what he’s done here.

“If it happens it’s a great reflection on us developing him in a short period of time, making him better and getting him to a level that he’s in demand to those type of clubs.”