Yahoo Sport 
Hibs youngster tipped for January return as loan results in lack of first-team action
Rory Whittaker is on the brink of an early return to Easter Road with Hibernian unlikely to sanction a return to Spartans on loan in January, according to reports.
The club believe Whittaker is one of the top prospects to come out of their academy system in recent times but due to his lack of minutes for Dougie Samuel’s side, a recall now seems likely. Whittaker, who made his Hibees debut in September of last year making him the club’s youngest-ever player, finished last season with a total of 14 appearances but was loaned out in the summer to play regular first-team football.
However, this has not materialised at the League Two side, having only made one solitary start and eight appearances off of the bench. He has already been recalled in recent weeks to play in some Development Squad games, but this is not the same as a recall from his loan. According to a report from the Edinburgh Evening News, the teenager will likely be loaned out again in January but a return to Ainslie Park is highly unlikely.
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Gray revealed his return for some development games is down to one simple reason: "Well, it's just because he's not playing. There’s a relationship between the clubs, and David Marshall speaks to the Spartans manager regularly.
"He is not playing the minutes you would want at Spartans. For his development, you need to be playing as often as you can. So they’ve been accommodating him so he can play in games here, as long as they OK it.
"It benefits him from getting that regular game time, because he's not getting it when he's out on loan, which is the desired effect of what you want when you go and play men's football. But at that age, in that development age, you want to play as many games as you can.
"If you can get a game a week, it's even better. It was good that we were able to get the green light for him to play for us, while he trains with them at night and does his gym work in at East Mains."
