Martin Boyle in Hibs return hope after Al Faisaly are relegated from Saudi top flight

Former Hibs hero Martin Boyle 's future in Saudi Arabia is in doubt after his Al-Faisaly side were relegated from the top division in a nightmare end to the season.

The Australia international moved from Easter Road in a £2.5 million deal in January after 14 goals in the first half of the season including a stunning hat-trick against Rangers in the League Cup semi-final. Hibs fell apart last season after his departure, but they included a buy-back clause in his contract when he left Leith and Boyle stated he would be keen to come back to Hibs eventually. He stated: "Hopefully, in the future I can return one day and repay them once again. It's a new adventure for me. I'm certainly looking forward to it. But I'm hoping that if I do come back I've still got a lot to give."

But just a couple of weeks after Boyle celebrated helping Australia to the World Cup Finals in Qatar later this year, he went from the highs of that play-off win over Peru to the low of relegation with his club, after just 13 league games for Al-Faisaly. It was the first time in 12 years Al-Faisaly have been relegated and they went down after just one win in their last ten games of the Saudi Pro League.

They had to get at least a point to survive on the final day of the season, but they lost 2-1 to Al-Hilal - former Watford and Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo scored twice which won the title with the victory. Boyle was even subbed off by manager Marinos Ouzounidis despite Al-Faisaly desperately needing a point to stay up

And they were agonisingly relegated because of their head-to-head record against Al-Batin, despite them having a better goal difference. Boyle now faces the ignominy of playing his football in the second tier, Saudi First