CHRISTIAN DOIDGE insists his heart goes out to Kevin Nisbet – but has still pledged to help fire Hibs into Europe.

Doidge returned to lead the Easter Road side’s attack on Wednesday night at Dundee, in the absence of Nisbet whose season has been brought to a premature end having suffered knee ligament damage in last Sunday’s Premiership draw with Celtic.

Nisbet’s loss is a considerable blow for Shaun Maloney’s side who failed to score against bottom-club Dundee at Dens Park and slipped to fifth place in the Premiership following their recent resurgence.

But Welshman Doidge, 29, is ready to shoulder the responsibility of providing goals in the final third and is relishing the challenger of filling Nisbet’s boots.

Doidge said: “I’m gutted for Kevin. He’s a massive player for us and with Scotland games coming up it’s a real tough one for him to take. 

“We know him. He will work hard to come back stronger. 

“There’s maybe more pressure on me for goals. I will probably get more minutes now. 

“I am looking forward to it because I have never been out of the team that much since I came to the club. 

“The last year has been hard but it’s down to me to put in performances for the boys.” 

Hibs weren’t too disheartened to leave Tayside with just a point, considering they had to negotiate the last half an hour or so with just ten men after Rocky Bushiri’s straight red-card for throwing an arm at Dundee’s Paul McGowan.

But one of the brighter aspects of their goalless draw was the introduction of Elias Melkersen who joined the outfit club recently from Bodo/Glimt.

Doidge, for one, is sure the rising Norwegian star can make a notable impact at his new club.

He added: “Elias has been fantastic. He’s a great lad who wants to learn and improve - I like that about him. 

“He’s always asking questions and working on his body to get in good shape. 

“I thought he did well when he came on against Dundee. He’s got so much energy and I think the more he plays the more he’ll step up to play in the Premiership.” 

Doidge was still heartened by the manner in which 10-man Hibs dug deep to secure a point and believes that spirit can stand them in good stead for the coming weeks as they bid to reclaim fourth spot.

He said: “It was a frustrating night and we’re disappointed because we wanted to get the three points up at Dundee. 

“It’s hard when you go down to ten men but we showed how good we are at defending.

“Even when we went down to ten, we still created a few opportunities. 

“We had control of the game in the first half and wanted to get out and create more chances in the second half. 

“But when you lose a player to a red card it always makes things difficult, especially away from home. 

“Rocky was disappointed with the decision but it’s just one of those things. 

“We wanted the three points but in the circumstances I suppose it was a good night for our defenders keeping the clean sheet when we were down to ten. 

“We are struggling at the moment with players and the physios are very busy. 

“Hopefully a few of the lads are back soon, although it has been a great experience for some of the young lads getting on the bench.” 

“It’s so close right across the league so the next games are going to be massive for us. 

“We need to win as many as we can to hopefully get up there into that fourth position.”