Hibernian will be without striker Kieron Bowie for at least four months, according to head coach David Gray. 

The 21-year-old, who was a £600,000 signing from Fulham for the Scottish Premiership side last month, suffered an injury while on international duty with Scotland Under-21s and underwent a scan on Thursday, which revealed the extent of the damage. 

Speaking at the Easter Road side's pre-match press conference ahead of their league clash with St Johnstone, head coach David Gray confirmed that the former Raith Rovers youngster was facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

“First of all, I am gutted for Kieron. I know how hard he worked to come back from his previous injury and how desperate he’s been to impress after joining us, which is something he’s certainly done," Gray said. 

“Given his injury history, we were conscious of managing his minutes at the start of the season, despite the temptation to play him more because of the positive start he made. With that in mind, it makes it even more frustrating that he has picked up a significant injury during this period. 

“Now it’s up to us to rally around him, support him with his recovery and make sure he has everything he needs to come back stronger, which I’m sure he will."

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Asked if there was any grievance from the club's perspective that Bowie started both matches for Scotland, Gray said: "Before he went, there was dialogue between us and Scotland to manage his minutes and to look after him. That happened and I think the reality of the situation is that there was a natural progression for him to go and start.

"He came off the bench a few times for us, so he was due to get a start and we thought it was the right thing for him to do. But you can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future, which is part of the reason it’s so frustrating for everyone.”

Despite Bowie's injury lay-off, Gray will be able to welcome back Junior Hoilett and Élie Youan for the visit of St Johnstone on Saturday.

“They are both fit and have trained all week. They’re at that stage where their rehab is done and they’ve been back on the grass with us for a couple of weeks now. They’re in contention for sure.

"I’ve been talking for several weeks now about competition for places and we’ve certainly got that now. It’s a good headache for me to have - if everyone is fully fit and flying, when I’m selecting my strongest XI, I have a real problem in knowing who to choose."