Error-prone Hibs players will face MORE competition as Gray continues recruitment drive

Marvin Ekpiteta, pictured tussling with Celtic's Adam Idah yesterday, has struggled with decision making at times. | SNS Group

Hibs boss David Gray has backed up his selection warning to underperforming players – by insisting that the club WILL be looking to bring in even more reinforcements before deadline day. The Easter Road club have already backed Gray in his first transfer window as gaffer, with sporting director Malky Mackay making nine new signings for the rookie head coach.

More business is expected before the summer market closes on Friday week, with Scottish clubs getting a half-hour extension on England’s 11 pm deadline. Gray is adamant that he won’t stop looking for the right people to bolster a team struggling to get started in season 2024-25.

He said: “It's not about the number of players we're bringing in. Whilst the window's open, if there's ever an opportunity, the club have been very supportive. We'll try and continue to improve the squad as much as we can.

“It won't just be a certain number we want to bring in. It'll be based on if we think we make the squad better.”

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A central defender has become a priority as a direct result of failings in the back line and, while former loanee Owen Bevan – whose January move to Hibs from parent club Bournemouth ended in the Wales Under-21 defender being returned without kicking a ball because of injury – is on a list of targets, he’s not the only centre-half in the frame. Hibs remain interested, meanwhile, in Dundee midfielder Luke McCowan – and haven’t given up hope of landing a player also reportedly of interest to Celtic, despite having a couple of bids rejected.

Gray’s need for reinforcements was underlined by yesterday’s 3-1 Premier Sports Cup loss to Celtic in Glasgow, with the manager picking up on more individual mistakes – and warning: “I can't keep picking the same players that keep making mistakes all the time.”

Digging deeper into why his team are so prone to individual errors, Gray insisted: “It can be the decision at the time, it could be a lack of confidence, it could be a variety of things. It's certainly not just down to technical ability.

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“We have got good footballers in the building, in that dressing room, 100 per cent. But we can't keep making mistakes. We can't keep one mistake becoming two mistakes. As soon as that happens you definitely lose goals. That's something that in the last three games we've definitely done. We need to fix it as quickly as possible.”