Hibernians' title aspirations suffered another blow yesterday after Portuguese forward Zeferino Soares Borges was ruled out of Monday's delicate clash against Birkirkara to serve a one-match ban handed to him by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner.

The lanky forward picked up a fourth booking during the goalless draw against Sliema Wanderers earlier this week when he was yellow-carded for striking the ball into the net with his hand in the dying minutes of the game.

Soares Borges's absence adds more problems to Hibs coach Mark Miller.

He is already without chief striker Terrence Scerri who twisted his ankle on Monday. The Premier League top-scorer suffered the injury when he landed badly during a tussle for the ball.

With Scerri and Soares Borges out of the equation, Andrew Cohen is the only experienced forward in the Hibs squad as Jean Paul Farrugia and Ben Camilleri are also recovering from injuries.

Hibs are currently trailing leaders Valletta by one point in the standings and must avoid defeat against Birkirkara to remain in contention for the league title with only two matches to go. The Stripes will be without Joseph Zerafa who was also handed a one-match ban.

Eight other Premier League players were sanctioned yesterday with Msida defender Stacey Vella handed a three-match ban. The others on the list were Adrian Farrugia, Kurt Magro and Pedro Dos Santos Calcado, all of Msida, John Mintoff (Sliema), Andrew Decesare and David Camilleri, of Tarxien, and Ivan Casha (Ħamrun).

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