Bravery key to Hibs as boss demands aggression in Celtic rematch

Fresh from last weekend's league loss, Hibs head to Celtic Park to take on the champions in the Premier Sports Cup. | SNS Group

Hibs will have to display different types of bravery to withstand a Celtic storm in Glasgow this weekend. And Easter Road gaffer David Gray says he wants players to be more aggressive AND composed as they look to pull of a shock – by eliminating Scotland’s champions from the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday.

Hibs are rank outsiders to get a result at Celtic Park in their last-16 tie against Brenan Rodgers’ men, with last weekend’s 2-0 loss in Edinburgh further lengthening the odds against an away win. Gray understands why so many have written off a team currently without a league point or goal two weeks into the Scottish Premiership season.

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But he says courage to take responsibility on the ball – and deny Celtic time to play – can make a difference as the sides meet for the second time in a week, the rookie head coach insisting: “There is very much two different types of bravery. There's the bravery to go and put your foot in.

“I think you need to always respect your opponent, but you should never fear them. You should go and test yourself against them and if you're too passive, which we definitely were, it becomes easier for the opposition.

“Whereas if you can go and be more aggressive … We definitely need to be more aggressive; we need to be more on the front foot and make sure we put pressure on players rather than standing off too much.

“And then the other side of bravery is actually when your team-mate is in possession of the ball. If he makes a good decision to take a touch, you need to be brave enough then to get in a position to help him rather than shying away from it.

“So it doesn't just come from the person directly on the ball, it comes from everybody involved to make sure and say: ‘Actually I need to help my team-mate here to go and get on the ball and keep the ball off Celtic for a bit.’

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 “Celtic are very good at keeping the ball off you, which we've seen at the weekend. But at the same time if you keep giving them the back at the end it becomes a long afternoon.

“So we need to be braver. When we watch back over Sunday’s game, individual meetings, group meetings, post-match meeting going over the game, demonstrating within that situation what's our options, could you have played in that situation? I think everybody knows we didn't do that.

“We've demonstrated that against Celtic before, that you can do it, it's just about being brave and making sure you're in the right position to be able to do it. Making the right decisions at the time, that's always the biggest challenge.”