Hibs boss addresses 'worried' claims after Celtic loss leaves Gray's men pointless in league

Gray sends Bowie into action against Celtic. | SNS Group

Hibs boss David Gray insists he’s not “worried” about his team’s losing start to the league season. And he’s adamant that fans will see improvement as a raft of new signings settle in and gain match sharpness.

Gray, speaking after this afternoon’s 2-0 home loss to reigning champions Celtic, admitted that he’d been frustrated by his team conceding two early goals to put themselves in trouble. But, despite suffering two straight losses to kick off the Scottish Premiership campaign, the new gaffer – who takes his team to Celtic Park on Premier Sports Cup duty next Sunday – insists he’s in control of the situation.

 “I don’t think I would use the word worried,” said Gray. “It is only two league games. There is a bit of short-term pain, at the moment, for what I believe will be long-term gain.

“If you look over the past week, from where the squad was to where it is now, we do have competition for places. It’s not where it needs to be yet.

“We’ve got players to come back from injury, we’ve got players to join the group. And while the window is open, we’ll be trying to improve the squad.

“I do believe we’ll get there. I’m confident in that.

“But we got extra minutes into boys today. Kieron Bowie coming off the bench, he showed what he can do, so he’ll be an asset for us. We have got competition now.

“But we had a poor start last weekend, playing against Celtic will always be a test. We know we need to be better. But I believe we will be.

“It’s clear for everyone to see that you can’t start the way we did, give Celtic a goal after three minutes, and then allow them to get into their flow. Because they’re a very good side.

“The thing that concerned me the most was the lack of composure on the ball at times. We knew what we were going to face, even though some of the players had never faced it before. So they are learning.

“I’m learning about my players. But that was the most frustrating thing, because that is the top end of Scottish football.

“We need to learn quickly. Because we face it again in seven days’ time. So we need to learn that giving them a goal after three minutes makes it a long afternoon.

“Up until half-time, we carried nowhere near enough threat. A lot of individual errors. Celtic dominated from start to finish in that 45 minutes – and we were lucky to go in just 2-0 down.

“The second half was more positive. We were braver on the ball, carried a bit more threat.

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“We still didn’t do enough to get back in the game. I’m not shying away from that. We know we need to be better.

“One of the positives of going there next week is we know what to expect. And we know we need to be better.”

Singling out second-half sub Bowie, the £600,000 signing who cracked the bar with his team’s best chance, Gray said: “The attributes he’s got, that’s why we brought him here. He has that pace and power. He enjoys the physical side – and that’s important to play here.

“Myko (Kuharevich) showed glimpses in the first half, although he’s not fully flying yet, either. So we now have strength in depth, once we get everyone up to speed.

“Kieron has come on and affected the game in a positive way. That will continue as he gets fitter.

“Next weekend we need to improve on the areas where we’ve let ourselves down today. We need to be brave enough to deal with how Celtic press you.”