David Gray 'desperate to stay on' after leading Hibs to victory in final match in charge

Interim Hibs boss David Gray signed off his second temporary spell in charge with a resounding victory over St Johnstone – and admitted he’s desperate to remain at the club.

The former club captain was appointed first-team coach by Jack Ross last summer and since then has taken temporary charge of the team on two separate occasions, but faces an uncertain future with Hibs set to appoint a new permanent manager in the near future.

“[My future] will be decided by the new manager and the direction the club wants to go in. Myself and Eddie [May] were asked to do a job until the end of the season which is now done,” he said after the 4-0 win.

“I’m comfortable with the situation in terms of where I want to be. I love working for the club, I really care about it so given the opportunity I would be desperate to stay.”

A Paul McGinn goal shortly before half-time and a second-half hat-trick from James Scott ensured the Easter Road side finished the campaign on a high, and Gray was satisfied to sign off with three points and a commanding performance.

“In terms of scoreline and reaction from Tuesday night’s defeat by Dundee and the way the season has gone, the frustration we have spoken about all season… it’s as positive as it can be and gives the fans something to go away feeling good about,” he said.

“Everyone needs to go away and reflect now; press reset and come back in a better place knowing where we were this season is not good enough.

“If we apply ourselves properly and get the right manager in who recruits properly then this is a very good club who can push up the league.”

David Gray's future is still uncertain, with the interim boss admitting the new manager will have a say in any role he might have

The 34-year-old was also pleased to hand first-team debuts to January signing Allan Delferriere and four of the club’s highly-rated under-18 players in Murray Aiken, Jacob Blaney, Robbie Hamilton, and Oscar MacIntyre.

"It's great. It's important for the young ones to get on because they've been working extremely hard, playing three games a week for the last five weeks, so they've not trained a lot.

"It's been quite difficult to integrate them with the first-team squad but it's great they got a little taste of it today,” he finished.