Hibs board meets to ponder Celtic’s move for striker Stokes

HIBERNIAN’S board of directors is to meet to discuss Celtic’s proposed move for Republic of Ireland striker Anthony Stokes.

Stokes heads a shortlist of strikers targeted by the Glasgow club, with Israeli international Itay Shechter also being considered, according to BBC Scotland. But it is believed Celtic will only move for the Hapoel Tel Aviv player if they miss out on Stokes.

Hibs would be looking for a fee in the region of £1m (€1.2m) to part with Stokes, their top scorer last season.

“He’s an option for us,” Celtic manager Neil Lennon said of Stokes on Thursday. “He’s a player we like but we have nothing more to say on that at the minute.”

But Hibernian manager John Hughes is planning to include Stokes in his starting line-up for tomorrow’s trip to St Mirren.

“We need him,” Hughes said. “He scores goals and we need a player of Anthony Stokes’ quality in the team.

“I know there has been an interest but I told him at this moment you just keep your focus on Sunday’s game.”

Stokes, 22, who has three Ireland caps, first made an impact in Scottish football with Falkirk during the first half of season 2006/07, when he was on loan from Arsenal. A move to Sunderland followed and the striker had further loan spells at Sheffield United and Crystal Palace before a permanent move to Hibs last year.

At Easter Road, Stokes was reunited with his former Bairns manager Hughes and finished last season with 23 goals, including two at Celtic Park.

Shechter, who played against Celtic in last season’s Europa League, scored 22 league goals in his debut season with Hapoel last term and has six international caps.