Celtic warned Hibs in a 'much better place' to take on champions despite huge gulf in league positions

Celtic will face a Hibs team transformed in tomorrow’s contest in Glasgow, according to Easter Road boss David Gray. And the rookie head coach has told his players that, despite Hibs trailing the champions and league leaders by 10 places and a whopping 28 points just over a third of the way into the season, they must carry the fight to their hosts whenever possible, declaring: “You can’t just sit back and wait to be beaten.”

Hibs faced Celtic in back-to-back contests in August, losing 2-0 at Easter Road in the league and 3-1 at Celtic Park in the League Cup on consecutive weekends. Gray, whose starting line-up tomorrow is likely to show at least half a dozen changes from the previous visit to Parkhead, insists the Hibees are a much improved side heading into a hectic December.

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"There are players who have joined the group since then, there were players who had just joined the football club and hadn't played many games and were also working with me for the first time,” he said. "I know there are players like Joe Newell who have been here for a while but there are players who had just joined the club and my message, and the way we want to work was new to them. So naturally they'll be a lot more understanding of what I expect from the players and the way we want to play.

"The players have got fitter and stronger as the weeks have gone on. I think the biggest thing was we went into both games against Celtic after a heavy defeat in our first league game (3-0 away to St Mirren). To have to play them back-to-back, Celtic Park is a difficult place to go and they're a difficult team to play anyway, never mind back-to-back.

“So it was a real challenge for the players, particularly so for those just starting their Hibs career. But I believe we've progressed a lot since then, even just the players individually.

"We're in a much better place now than we were then because it was such a new squad. The players have now had four or five months to work together."

Gray, who watched Brendan Rodgers’ men grind out a hard-fought win against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in midweek, insists any team visiting Celtic Park must carry some threat to hurt the hosts. Or risk simply being swept away.

“The message is always that you need to be on your guard for 90-odd minutes because if you're not quite there, that level of opposition will punish you straight away,” he said, adding: "That's something they've felt now in the two games against them this season, that any little mistake is punished because of the level of opposition.

“But then you also think about the moments in the game where we actually got success and caused them problems. We need to be mindful of that but at the same time, be very resolute in what we're trying to do.

“And you need to be able to take your chances when they do come. You don't get as many chances especially away from home against Celtic, so you need to be ready to do that.

“You need to carry a threat. You can't just go there and sit in and hope for a result or wait to be beaten.

"We need to be on the front foot as much as we can in certain areas of the football pitch without being gung-ho. We need to be tactically right - but also we need the players to play the best they can."