Hibs boss John Hughes has today revealed that AWOL defender Sol Bamba has returned to the club, but won’t travel as the Hibees fly out to Slovenia for the Europa League 3rd Round Qualifier with NK Maribor.
Hughes also revealed that Bamba, 25, will train with the Hibs U19 side for the week, whilst his team mates do battle on foreign shores.
Bamba was meant to fly in to the Hibees Dutch training camp last week, but failed to appear, claiming that he needed more time to rest following his exploits (or lack of) at the World Cup with Ivory Coast.
The former Dunfermline defender stated he needed three full weeks off, despite Ivory Coast being knocked out of the World Cup FOUR Weeks before that statement.
Bamba also missed every game in South Africa through injury, meaning he hasn’t now played a competitive game since a pre-World Cup friendly against Paraguay on May 30th, now some 8 weeks ago.
Hughes said:
"He's here but he won't be travelling.
"He came back this morning, which is obviously too late to come with us to Europe," said Hughes.
"We have been preparing since 1 July and I don't want any distractions. He trained with the kids this morning.
“My focus is on the team and the squad going to Maribor, it's as simple as that. Once we get back we will sit down and see where we are and then get this out of the way."
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