PAUL Hanlon believes the pain of missing out on the Edinburgh derby match will help his fellow Hibernian centre half Ryan Porteous to cut rash challenges out of his game in future.
Porteous was shown a straight red card by referee Nick Walsh for a shocking foul on Rangers left back Borna Barisic at Easter Road on Friday night.
The 20-year-old defender will now sit out the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Hearts at Tynecastle on Boxing Day.
It isn’t the first time the Scotland Under-21 internationalist’s ill-discipline has deprived the capital club of his services in an important fixture.
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He didn't play in the Betfred Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden last month – which his side lost 5-2 - after being ordered off in the quarter-final against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in September for scything down Liam Millar late on.
However, Hibs captain Hanlon knows Porteous will be devastated not to be involved against Daniel Stendl’s men in Gorgie and is confident he won’t be as reckless again as a result.
“He is a young, aggressive, wholehearted defender and he is obviously desperate to do well for the club,” he said. “He’ll learn from it.
“The biggest disappointment is in terms of the games coming up - he’s going to miss big games for us. As a young boy, these are the games he wants to play in.
“I’m sure through time and experience he will know when it’s right to kind of leave a bit on strikers, when to make the more aggressive tackles and when not to. It’s not something you want to take out his game completely because he’ll need that to kick on in his career.
“I've spoken to him and said in this day and age you can’t really tackle like that. It gives the referee a chance to show the cards and, as I said before, it’s not just the outcome of this game, it’s the games we are going to miss him for. He has been performing well for us so he will be a big miss.”
Asked if thought missing the Hearts game would lead to a change in attitude from Porteous, Hanlon said: “I hope so. They are big games. He’s a young boy and has played a lot of big games already, but they are the ones you show what you are made of.
"In the big games, he’s stepped up for us, but it’s disappointing for him to miss these ones coming up.”
Darren McGregor made his return to action after a four month injury-lay-off after Porteous was red carded on Friday night and Hanlon is confident Hibs have enough quality in their squad to cope without their first choice centre back against Hearts.
“We have good players who can come in for him,” he said. “Daz has worked hard in the gym to get himself back fit. I’ve had problems in that area (abdominal) as well and there are lots of grey areas.
“He has had to persevere in the gym and work really hard. All credit to him for his mental strength and resilience. He will be back in top condition. It's good to see him back around the squad.”
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