Hibs attackers confirmed OUT of Euro opener amid Conference League heartache 'motivation and fuel' admission
Jamie McGrath, Nicky Cadden, Callum Wright and Ante Suto all OUT of season opener
Hibs ace Warren O’Hora has underlined his team’s desire to make amends for falling agonisingly short in their bid for European qualification last season – after admitting that extra-time heartache left him unable to even watch UEFA Conference League games involving Scottish rivals. David Gray’s men take on FC Malisheva in the first leg of their second qualifying round tie here in Pristina this afternoon.
With David Gray confirming that both Callum Wright and Ante Suto have joined Jamie McGrath and Nicky Cadden on the list of players unavailable for this first game of season 2026-27, Hibs will face a tough test against local opposition who put five past Albanian side FK Vllaznia in the first qualifying round. But O’Hora said a desire to make up for last season’s near-run thing, when Legia Warsaw prevailed at the very death in the play-off round, is driving Hibs forward.
Aberdeen’s Cup win punished Hibs
Revealing how he’d reacted to Aberdeen stealing guaranteed league stage football from Hibs – who had finished third in the league – by dint of their shock Scottish Cup win over Celtic, the Irishman revealed: “I didn’t watch any of the Aberdeen games last season, it would have been too hard for me to watch them. Instead, use it as motivation and fuel.
“We’re sitting here now and hopefully we’re in a better position in a few weeks. It was hard last season, if it was the other way round and we’d won the Scottish Cup to get into the competition we’d have been buzzing.
“Aberdeen would have been feeling the other way, but that’s the way it went. We finished third and they won the cup, that’s football and you take your medicine.
“Our goal was to play in European group stages and in the end we had to go the hard way to try to get there. We accepted that and tried our best, but just fell short.
“The run we had was filled with unbelievable moments but in the end, when it finished you couldn’t help thinking how close we were. It was deflating in the dressing-room after it.
“It sits in the back of your mind thinking we could have been there. European days are the best ones, think of the stadiums we played in and the nights we had at Easter Road.
“What it meant to the fans and what it meant to us, you saw how much we wanted it pushing Legia Warsaw right into the last minute of extra-time. We left everything on the pitch that night.
“It’s something we want to put right, we’ve now got an opportunity to do that and it’s one of the targets. That’s how it should be, people come to this club and it’s one of the big pulling points.
“The size of the club, the fanbase and the history, it’s something everyone at the club wants. We pushed ourselves last season to get back here so we’ll try our best to go one step further. “
Hibs are fully aware that, although they might be favourites, Malisheva clearly carry some threat, O’Hora pointing out: “They won 5-0 last week, so as a defender I’m thinking that’s a warning that we have to be in the right mental state. Winning any game 5-0 at any level is good going, no matter what competition it is. It will have given them confidence, they’re at their national stadium as well so it’s going to be a test for us.
“It’s going to be a tough game. We got experience of the qualification last year and no game is easy.
“We saw that, we were pushed to extra-time in three of ties so we’re not going into this expecting an easy one. You can’t let your guard down and think it’s going to be an easy place to come because it’s not.
“We’re here to try to get a result, that’s our plan and the reason we’re here. It’s going to be a tough game and one to look forward to. We have been focusing on ourselves, although we’ve had meetings on them.
“We were good away from home last season, we go into every game trying to get a result. We don’t go in thinking we’ll hold on for Easter Road because I don’t think you can do that in European ties.
“You can’t do that in any two-legged tie, you have to go out with your game plan trying to get a positive result. We did that in Denmark and Serbia last year and we tried it in Poland as well. So again this will be a test for us this time, to get a positive result ahead of next week.”
Injury latest as stars miss out
Gray revealed that new signing Wright hadn’t recovered from the thigh strain picked up towards the end of the first half in Saturday’s friendly win over Brondby, saying: “Callum's not on this trip. We'll just see how he goes.
“I've still included them within the numbers because you obviously have to register for the first leg, if you think they might be ready for the second game. So he won't feature tomorrow at all.
“Ante Suto’s the same (with a knee problem), so he's in a similar boat, but by the second leg we're hoping to have him back. We'll just have to wait and see what that does.
“You can only include so many at the start, but I think because we're hoping they would be available for the second leg, it's definitely worth including them in that. Everybody else is fine.”