Hibs have 'no need' to sell Kevin Nisbet & Ryan Porteous amid English interest
- Published
Ryan Porteous and Kevin Nisbet have helped Hibs into fourth place in the Premiership
Jack Ross says Hibernian have "no need to" sell striker Kevin Nisbet and centre-half Ryan Porteous amid interest from English Championship clubs.
Birmingham City have been linked with a £2m bid for Nisbet and Millwall with a £1m-plus offer for Porteous.
But head coach Ross says he is planning for both to remain in his squad beyond Monday's transfer deadline.
"I am also sensible enough to know that can change very quickly," he said ahead of facing Dundee United.
"The club has had stronger interest in players over the last couple of days and it's accelerated a little bit, but both trained with me this morning, they are very much part of my plans for Saturday and for Tuesday evening against St Mirren."
Aberdeen had earlier confirmed that Nisbet's suitors, Birmingham, have also made a bid for their striker, Sam Cosgrove.
Nisbet has scored 13 goals in 30 Hibs appearances since the 23-year-old's transfer from Dunfermline Athletic for an undisclosed fee last summer.
The 21-year-old Porteous has played 76 times for the first team since graduating from Hibs' academy and earned his first call-up to the Scotland squad in 2019.
"I explained to them that part of my job is to make them better and help them progress their career and hopefully they see this as an indication that they are going in the right direction and they are comfortable with their own individual situations," Ross said.
The head coach is "encouraged" by his conversations with owner Ron Gordon.
"He has spoken often enough of how the club has managed to navigate this period and deal with the financial challenges that every club has had," he said. "We have done it in a really effective way, which has given the confidence that they don't have to do anything that they wouldn't necessarily want to."
Ross points out that the timing of the interest - the transfer window closes on Monday - made the situation "more challenging".
"Obviously we have tried to put a plan in place should we lose any of our players and I think we have that ready if necessary," he said.
Despite that, Ross said there is "nothing imminent" in terms of incoming players.
Ross said there had been "nothing further" other than media speculation after 18-year-old left-back Josh Doig was linked with Celtic and a number of English Premier League clubs.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that he had been prepared to allow Stevie Mallan to leave for Turkish club Yeni Malatyaspor as the midfielder was frustrated about a lack of game time but that the move "fell down".