Park admits Fletcher's Easter Road exit is only 'matter of time'

HIBS have conceded that it is only a matter of time before striker Steven Fletcher leaves the club.

Assistant manager Donald Park has revealed the 21-year-old Scotland international is already looking at his career beyond Easter Road.

Park said: "I think his ambition is to move on, and he has the ability; he's a top player. I'm sure he'd love to play in the (English) Premier League and who wouldn't?"

Fletcher has scored 46 goals for Hibs and has been a regular in the side for the past four seasons. In the summer, manager Mixu Paatelainen played down reports linking the striker with Real Madrid after they were said to have watched him on three occasions.

But Park insists no-one at the club would begrudge Fletcher the chance to move on to bigger and better things.

"I think it's great that he wants to move on and to go and achieve the highest level that he possibly can; he's got the ambitions to do that and quite rightly so," Park continued.

Hibs have previously lost stars such as Kenny Miller, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and Derek Riordan to the Old Firm, but Park denies his side are a feeder club.

"I think we've all got to be sensible on that side," he said. "If you get an appropriate fee for a player, you've got to allow that player to move on as well, and you've got to balance that; it's up to us to continue that. Are Rangers and Celtic feeder clubs? Rangers lost (Carlos) Cuellar to England.

"Fletcher's done great for the club and he will continue to, and he will work as hard as anything for the club until that time changes, but I'm sure it will at some point."

Meanwhile, Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen has vowed to be his "usual self" when he returns from a four-match touchline ban today.

Paatelainen will patrol the Fir Park dugout in his side's SPL trip to Motherwell having been sent to the stand twice already this season.

He is looking forward to being able to orchestrate his faltering team – who have not won for six games – from close quarters but insists only his players can decide whether his presence makes the difference.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to being back in the dugout but it's not the people who are there who win matches, it's the players out on the pitch," he said.

"Hopefully I can help them but I don't think they really take any notice of who is in the dugout once they are concentrating on the game."

Paatelainen added: "Not being in the dugout was frustrating in the sense we did not get the results we wanted. We have to turn the corner and get some victories under our belt."

Motherwell defender Mark Reynolds insists his fresh side are ready to make amends for their tired defeat at Falkirk. The 21-year-old felt their Old Firm double header took its toll when they lost 1-0 last weekend, but he is sure they can raise their game for Hibs' visit.

Reynolds said: "I think you could see when we were playing against Falkirk that there were a few boys who looked a bit jaded, more so in the midfield and front three, who put a lot more work into it. I think that was a factor, although a lot of the boys wouldn't like to admit it. This week, we have had a lot of rest and we have done a lot of training so now we are a wee bit fresher and sharper.

"It was a hugely disappointing result and there has been a lot of work this week put in to prove we are a better team than that."

Reynolds also benefited from a week free from international duty after coming to the end of his Scotland Under-21 career. The centre-back, who has appeared in major finals at Under-19 and Under-20 level, said: "It was a bit strange. I ended up going to the 21s game anyway, so I don't know whether that was me just at a loose end or not.

"But it was different. The last three or four years, I have always been away in the spare week, so it was good to get a bit of rest. We got Monday off – that's a lot of time off here."

Manager Mark McGhee also took a less serious approach to training after putting the Falkirk defeat down to "fatigue".

He said: "Training has been a bit more relaxed and less cerebral, with a bit more fun to take the pressure off. I expect their energy to be back."