Hibs Sign Iranian Teenager

Scotsman - HIBS boss John Collins today revealed he's signed Iranian youngster Shana Haji on a short-term contract.

The 18-year-old was poised to make an immediate debut in today's reserve match away to Dunfermline after impressing Collins in a trial period at Easter Road.

And, if he continues to make a mark, a longer-term deal could be offered to the young forward.

Collins said: "For his age he is well-developed, powerfully-built, very quick and skilful. He looks promising for 18 and he can play wide right or left. The fact is that as a club we can't go our and buy the finished article.

"We have to look at players whom we can develop. We saw something in Shana in training which we liked and having seen enough in a couple of sessions we had to sign him to see more."

Meanwhile, Collins believes he has seen signs in Hibs past couple of games that his side are beginning to hit form just in time for Sunday's CIS Insurance Cup final against Kilmarnock.

He said: "I think against Falkirk the sharpness in our passing was there and we were better at creating chances.

"But I don't think we'd really been playing that poorly in our previous matches. We did well against Celtic in Glasgow and against Rangers although we lost those games and while we didn't play well against Dundee United at Tannadice, the pitch was horrendous that day.

"Perhaps we had been a little bit below par in terms of tempo but teams do lose a bit of life at this time of year."

Dean Shiels returned to training yesterday ahead of schedule but even so the Northern Ireland star's chances of featuring at Hampden appear to be slim.