Former Aston Villa player Shaun Maloney has been named manager of Hibernian.

Hibernian have announced that Shaun Maloney has been appointed as the new boss of the Scottish Premiership side after leaving his role of assistant manager in the Belgian national team.

Maloney will be replacing Jack Ross, who left the club earlier this month after being in charge for a total of two years.

The new Hibernian boss spent two years at Aston Villa from 2006-2008, where he made a total of 30 Premier League appearances, scoring five goals and recording one assist.

Hibernian's chief executive had this to say on the appointment: "Our recruitment for a new manager has been thorough, strategic, and centred around the clear vision we have for this football club.

“We wanted to acquire a manager who has an attacking mentality, who's progressive, and someone who is hungry for the opportunity to build something here at this big club.

“Shaun has been the standout candidate throughout this process as his idea of football is completely aligned with ours and the history of this football club. He believes in attacking, possession-based football and has implemented it at the highest level with Roberto Martinez at Belgium.

“He is also a coach that wants to develop the players we have at this football club, as we have assembled a good squad.

“He's aligned with our focus on bringing through young talent through our development team and wants to work with young players.

“Shaun's a young coach and this is a big opportunity for him to show what we can do. We will support him in the upcoming transfer windows to help him achieve our ambitions here."