Hibernian have been granted special dispensation by Congo to field their striker Dominique Malonga in the New Year derby against Hearts.
The Paris-born forward has been named in Claude Le Roy's initial 26-man squad for the competition in Equatorial Guinea, which runs from January 17 to February 8 and Le Roy has told his players to arrive at the pre-tournament training camp in the nation's capital, Brazzaville, on January 2, 24 hours before Hibernian face their arch-rivals in Tynecastle. However, the Congolese Football Federation have allowed the striker to report for duty after the derby game.
Congo will travel to Senegal for a friendly against Cape Verde on January 10 before returning to Brazzaville on three days later to wrap up preparations for the competition. Three players will be dropped from the squad ahead of Congo kicking off their campaign against hosts Equatorial Guinea. They will also face Gabon and Burkina Faso in the group phase.
Malonga's availability is a huge boost for the capital club, with the Paris-born hitman already having scored 11 goals this term following his summer arrival from Siena. He could still miss fixtures against Falkirk, Cowdenbeath, Queen of the South and Arbroath during a four-week absence, depending on Congo's progress in the tournament.
Speaking ahead of Malonga's call-up, Alan Stubbs, the Hibernian head coach, said: "It's wonderful for this club if we have an international player who is representing his country. It would be fantastic for one of our players to play in a tournament like the Africa Cup of Nations; I'd like more of our players to represent their country.
"That tells you that we're doing the right things; they wouldn't get recognition if they were not playing well. We have other players who could step up. "
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