Hibernian Colts will face Elgin City at home in the First Round of the Irn Bru Cup.

Development Squad defender Ryan Porteous played against the Borough Briggs outfit during the 2016/17 campaign during his loan spell with Edinburgh City and says he is anticipating the game being a tough test against Jim Weir’s side.

Speaking about the draw Porteous told Hibernian Media: “Elgin will be a tough task for us and it will be a good test for all the boys.

“The ones who weren’t out on loan will be able to see what it is like playing against a first-team and to give them a taste of what it is like and how physical and demanding it is. For the boys were out on loan we can all see how far we’ve come after the experience.

“It’s an interesting tie for myself as well because I played against them a couple of times last year and went up to Elgin. It’s not the most enjoyable as it is a long journey, so I’m glad that we got them at home.

“Kevin Waugh was out on loan to Gala and they played Elgin, so myself and Kev both played against them, that will hopefully help us.

“I think we are all good enough to be able to compete at that level and it is a good stage for us to all show that we can play at a good first-team level at our age just now.”

“I think it is a good idea to have the younger teams playing in the competition. The Development League is competitive in its own way, but it’s not as competitive as a first-team tournament is.

“It will help everyone and the Colt teams that are in it will become a lot more competitive, just like a first-team would.

“The first-team at Hibs go into every game looking to win, this is the exact same at every other club from the top flight down to Ladbrokes League 2. When you play in a first-team the objective is to win, and in the Irn Bru Cup we are hopeful we can do that and we want to see how far we can get.”

Full details for the fixture will be made available in due course.

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John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.