Hibs lose Jones to Scunthorpe for £500,000

HIBS have lost their two biggest assets in the space of two weeks, with club captain Rob Jones departing to Scunthorpe United yesterday in a deal worth up to £500,000 just a matter of days after striker Steven Fletcher joined Burnley.

Jones will take part in his first training session as a Scunthorpe United player this morning, after Hibs granted his wish to return to England. He has signed a three-year deal with the Championship side, joining for a fee which the Scunthorpe website said was undisclosed but also a record. The club's previous biggest outlay was the £475,000 they paid Stoke City two years ago for striker Martin Paterson.

Hibs manager John Hughes now has a tough job to replace the pivotal member of his team, with Darren Barr of Falkirk an early candidate to fill the big defender's boots.

Jones and his wife, who have two children, have wanted for some time to move back south of the Border to be closer to their families. Having said he was glad to be back, however, the centre-back insisted that it was the ambition shown by Scunthorpe which convinced him to move.

"I wouldn't have moved to the club if I didn't think it could stay in the Championship," Jones told his new club's website. "It feels great to sign for Scunthorpe United. It's nice to be back in England and in an area which I'm familiar with after my time at Grimsby. I wouldn't necessarily say where the club is was a factor behind the move – it's where the club's going. I came down on Wednesday and the move just felt right for me.

"The club is in the Championship, where I want to be playing, and it also wants to move forward like I do. Hopefully we can move forward together."

Jones played for Gateshead, Stockport County and Grimsby before joining Hibs in 2006. By the following January he had become the Easter Road team's captain, and two months later lifted their first trophy for 16 years when they defeated Kilmarnock in the CIS Cup final. By the summer of 2007 he had begun to attract attention from English clubs, and over the following two years would be linked with Colchester, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Swansea City and others.

Having signed Jones on a four-year contract, Hibs felt able to stand firm and reject all those offers. In January of this year, however, during a transfer window in which interest in him was again intense, Hibs agreed that they would let him go this summer provided the offer was right.

"Rob leaves with all our best wishes," Hibs chairman Rod Petrie said yesterday. "Rob has led by example on and off the pitch. We could have asked for nothing more from him than the professionalism, commitment and leadership he demonstrated, particularly after the distractions in the transfer window last January.

"Rob will be remembered fondly as a cup-winning captain, scoring with a towering header and lifting the CIS Cup in 2007. I would like to thank Rob for all that he has done for Hibernian Football Club and to extend the club's best wishes to him and his family and to wish him continuing success in his football career in the English Championship."

Jones's departure leaves a sizeable hole at the heart of the Hibs defence, and manager Hughes may wish to return to his old club Falkirk in an attempt to fill it.

Barr, Hughes's captain there last season, would be available, but it is uncertain how much Hibs would want to pay for a player who, with just a year of his contract remaining, could sign a pre-contract agreement with them in January.

Barr was linked with Hearts earlier this week, but the Tynecastle club have now signed Algerian international defender Ismael Bouzid instead. Hughes, who has already taken Patrick Cregg and Kevin McBride to Easter Road from Falkirk, praised Barr yesterday without committing himself to making a move.

"I've got a great working relationship with Darren Barr," he said. "He's a true professional and a guy most managers would want at their club. It's all about being patient. Who knows?"