Hibernian make decision on Manchester United youngster Will Fish

Hibernian want to keep Will Fish for the remainder of the campaign and are confident Manchester United will not activate the break clause in his loan contract.

Fish joined Hibs on a season-long loan in the summer, but every academy player who leaves United on loan has a recall break clause that can be activated after six months.

That gives the club a chance to assess whether it's best for the youngster to stay on loan or not and Charlie McNeill was recalled from Stevenage this week due to a lack of minutes. The young striker had been absent from a string of matchday squads and sources had conceded the move had not gone as hoped.

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However, Fish is thoroughly enjoying his second loan with Hibs after becoming a first-team regular at Easter Road.

The centre-back has continued to start under new manager Nick Montgomery and coaches at United are understood to be delighted with his development and progress in Scotland.

Fish is thriving and Montgomery believes his break clause won't be activated: “This is a situation we’ve spoken about,” he said. “I don’t think there is any danger of Will moving on. Fingers crossed, he’s going to be here for the season, unless some offer comes in that he can’t refuse – and Man United can’t refuse.

"But they’re happy with his progress, Will is really happy here, so, hopefully, we get through this window, and he’ll be here for the season. It’s very hard to bring players in on permanent deals in January.

"It’s a better opportunity to bring in loan players to help us, and we help them get out of clubs to play games. The clubs help us by giving us good players, that’s the whole point of a loan system."