By John Greechan

Copyright scotsman

Hibs are definitely still in the market for a free agent striker to bolster their forward options. But a dream Easter Road return for former favourite Steven Fletcher is NOT on the cards, according to senior figures at the Edinburgh club. Rumours of interest in former Scotland centre forward Fletcher first surfaced at the weekend, but were quietly dismissed by well-placed Easter Road insiders. Despite a fresh report this evening linking Hibs with a move for the 38-year-old, The Evening News has been informed that they aren’t pursuing a deal for the veteran. Fletcher made his senior breakthrough with Hibs before moving on to play for Burnley, Wolves, Sunderland, Marseille, Sheffield Wednesday, Stoke City and, most recently, Wrexham. He left the Hollywood-backed Welsh club in the summer and has been exploring his options since. But Hibs won’t be one of the clubs offering him a way back into football – even though they are in the market for a centre forward with the right profile. They tried hard to land current Scotland international Lyndon Dykes on loan from Birmingham City on Deadline Day, only for the deal to fall through. Content with his established pairing of aspiring Scotland star Kieron Bowie and Socceroos ace Martin Boyle, with club record signing Thibault Klidje also competing for game time, David Gray would like to add a Dykes type to bolster his options. Elie Youan remains a useful alternative, but ideally the Hibs boss wants a physically imposing striker capable of providing support for – and an alternative to – 22-year-old Bowie, who has played a lot of football in European and domestic competitions this season. Hibs are keeping an eye on the free agent market, which they tapped so well to secure veteran goal scorer Dwight Gayle last season. But Gray has made it very clear that he will only be recruiting quality – and will be focusing on character as he looks to maintain the team spirit that saw Hibs climb from the foot of the table to finish third in the Scottish Premiership last season. Speaking on the subject recently, Gray said: “In terms of profile, what we’ll be looking for, we’ve got a Kieron Bowie-type, physical one, we’ve also got other players like Boyle and Thibault, more speed in running them behind. So we are in the market for another centre forward. On what that looks like, again, it’s about bringing in the right type of person as well. It’s not always just about the name or potentially what their profile looks like, we need to feel that they’re going to add value to what we’ve currently got, which is a very good group.” Your next Hibs read: New signing talks filling the ‘Nectar Triantis’ role – and facing Rangers